Together Alone
by LaurenRoover
Summary: Camping in the woods, pranking friends, making music, climbing in trees...that's pretty much what the apocalypse was like for Alexa. Till an group invades her camp and kills her friends. Alexa's father figure Ash works it out, and they end up staying in a prison. For the first time, Alexa feels miserable. No one understands her, except the kid she dislikes the most: Carl. CarlxOC
1. Prologue

**Hey guys!**

**So, I got a suggestion from Computer Breeze, and I worked it out to a story of 25 chapters. It's a CarlxOC story, which I wanted to write for a while, because I think Carl is awesome and deserves a girlfriend. And Chandler Riggs is (already) an amazing actor!**

**Here's some short prologue to warm you guys up! First chap will be up next Friday!**

**Leave a review/follow this story! ^^**

**(Disclaimer; I (still) do not own The Walking Dead)**

**Enjoy! ;)**

_Prologue _

I hide in the closet. I know it's the only way to survive. I put my hand over my mouth, trying to shush the sound of my sobs. The things are drawn by sound. I can't let them notice me.

I close my eyes, even though it doesn't help a thing. The inside of the wardrobe is very dark, closing my eyes doesn't change that.

I can still hear them. They still are inside. Dragging their feet over the ground, bumping against every furniture and looking for me. I hope that if I just stay hidden, they'll go away.

But what am I supposed to do then? Just, go outside. But to where? I have nowhere to go. All the neighbours are already gone, I can't ask them to take me with them anymore. And mom and dad…

One of the creatures bumps into the wardrobe, and causes it to almost fall on its side, with me still in it. I let out a yelp, and immediately regret it.

I know it's over now. There's a silence first, as if they need to progress what is going on. I keep my eyes shut, and my hands over my mouth. I wait for the end to come.

Then, all four of them, begin slamming into the wood. I hear it crack, it won't hold for long. I crawl back to the deepest of the wardrobe, and push my back against it. I hoped I would end up in a forest, meet a faun and a big lion, but no. It's just the back of the wardrobe.

The first one gets through the wood. It's ugly face manages to squeeze through the gap. He's clapping his jaws up and down, and his eyes are a strange kind of green.

I kick with my feet towards it, but it doesn't help. It only makes him want to get in more.

I hide behind my knees, and lay my head against it. I'm stuck. I'll never get out. I'm weak. I'm useless. I'm helpless.

Suddenly, the head is pulled away, out of the gap in the wood. I look up. The slamming fists disappear, and I hear voices. Those are not from the creatures. Those are real people.

I try not to breath, and just wait. What should I do? Open the door? But what if those people are bad people?

Before I can think of anything else, someone opens the wardrobe. Light shines in my eyes, and I can see a tall figure, holding a very big weapon. I blink my eyes against the light, and try to see the face of my saviour.

It's a guy, not very old, I think in his twenties. He has shaggy dark hair and friendly light eyes. He kneels down in front of me, and smiles.

"It's OK. They're gone. Everything will be OK."

And that's kinda where my story begins.


	2. Chapter 1: Invasion

**Thank you all for reviewing on the prologue! Here, as promised, the first real chapter!**

**A guest reviewer asked me if the guy that opened the wardrobe in the prologue was Daryl...to answer that question, I'll say this; I'm not really the person who likes to go for the obvious. Read to find out who it is!**

**Leave a review/follow! ^^**

**(Disclaimer; I do not own The Walking Dead)**

_Chapter 1: Invasion_

That guy that saved me that day, is now wandering through the woods, searching for me. Don't worry, I'm just teasing him.

I'm up in a tree, just above him. I've put my hand over my mouth, because I can't stop laughing. I'm actually really mean right now, because I can see he's really worried about me.

His name is Ash, and he has this really funny dark hair that never stays the way he wants it to. He's pretty good with a gun, and after all that happened he kinda became like a big brother to me. Maybe even a father. But only figural, because he would've been ten years old when I was born. Ash is about 23, 24 years old. Don't tell me it's not creepy if a guy his age had a daughter of thirteen.

You might be wondering what I meant with 'after all that happened', so I'll just explain it; there's this huge apocalypse going on with this really creepy virus that turns you into a flesh-eating monster when you die. Or you can get bit, or scratched. Just stay away from them.

Leighton, one of Ash's neighbours who also saved me, likes to refer to them as 'ghouls'. But I think that's too difficult to pronounce. Mark, some friend Ash used to work with before all happened, has this word he once heard a military guy say; walker. It sounds more English than 'ghoul', so I'll just use the other one.

"Alexa!" Ash calls again. I chuckle softly, still hiding behind the leafs. Ash and I are on a supply run. We were hitting a store, and I decided to sneak out. I always like to walk through the woods, especially now when there is more danger. Walkers could be around every tree. And it's also exciting to have Ash look for me the way he does now. But I think the fun's over. He's had enough worries for today. He'll get a heart attack if I keep on doing this.

I pull myself up by a branch above my head, making the leafs fall down. They land around and upon Ash, making him to look up.

"Damnit, Alexa!" he swears, while jumping in the air by the shock. "Come down, immediately!"

"Yes, sir" I say, as I put my hand around the tree, and make my way down. Ash grabs me by the shoulder, and I think he's going to lecture me. Instead, he gives me a hug. Surprised, I put my arms around his neck. He's such a sensitive bastard.

"I told you not to do that," he says softly "it's not funny. Seriously."

I let go of crossing my arms over my chest. "I actually had the time of my life up there."

He smirks. "Yeah, you probably did. But I mean it, Alexa. You can't keep sneaking out. It's not good to play these games. What if you got overrun? What if you ran into bandits? What if-"

"Yeah, I know" I sigh. "You can stop the 'what if'- speech. I get it. No more games."

Ash smiles sadly. "I'm just trying to protect you. We've lost too much already."

I look at the ground, kicking a small branch away from my foot. If he starts talking like this, I always feel very cold and sad inside. But I'm not crying. I won't ever cry again.

"Hey" Ash says while giving me a supportive shove to the shoulder. "I don't wanna upset you. I'm just looking out for you, that's all."

While blinking my eyes, I put up a fake smile and look at him. "I know. And I'll look out for you."

Ash smiles, and nods. Then, a playful grin appears around his lips. "Wanna see who's first back to camp?"

I chuckle. "Seriously? And you're telling me not to play games?"

Ash shrugs, turns around, and starts running.

"Hey!" I shout after him. "That's not fair! You're so childish, Ash!"

I start running too, trying not to get my feet stuck by all the fallen trees. Ash is much faster than I am, and I know I'll never beat him at this game. His the tallest guy I've ever seen with the longest legs of the universe. I just need to be smart about this one.

I decide not to run into a straight line after him, but fasten my pace and make some sort of circle, so I'll meet him later on, but before he gets to camp. It's sorta like a short cut. I remember learning something about a war plan from World War I, which I thought was pretty epic. But when mister Blanchet started speaking about the great failure of the plan, I was really disappointed.

I know Ash never sees this coming. I'm almost at the spot where I want to do the plan. I'm starting to feel some pain in my chest and my legs are tired, but I still try to speed up.

Ash is almost at the same place as I am, and I quickly look around. I see a tree with a branch lower at the trunk. Perfect. Ash will get to it in about 10 seconds.

My legs burn and my chest is about to blow up, but I make it. I grab the branch, at the same second Ash comes from behind the tree. I let go of the branch, and it slams him in his chest, knocking him a few feet back.

Surprised by the attack, he falls on his butt. I start running again, looking over my shoulder.

"You little bastard!" Ash says with a dramatic tone. I laugh at him, and run further.

"And? Who's the winner this time?" Mark asks me when I come storming into the camp. His light brown hair is full of sweat, and his strong arms are carrying logs for the camp fire.

"Well, who do you think?" I say, while catching my breath. Leighton chuckles.

"Did the thing I tol' yah?"

I nod with a wink, which makes him laugh even more. The middle aged man, I think he's in his fifties, is slapping his knee the time Ash arrives. Mark throws the logs near the fire, and glances at his friend.

"You owe me five bucks."

"Seriously?" I say with my hands on my hips. "You took a bet on it?"

Ash rolls with his eyes, and searches through his pockets. "Yeah. Mark said you're able to get home faster than me."

He hands Mark the five dollars. Mark holds it into the light of the fire, and grins. "Man, this apocalypse-thing is making me rich!"

I shake my head, while I sit down next to Leighton. The grey haired man is searching through one of our backs, and his hand comes back with a can of beans.

"Beans? Again?" I sigh. Leighton shrugs sadly.

"It's better than nothing. When I was your age, I wasn't so lucky. We had to do ration, the six of us. And our poor mother-"

"Dude, we know the story" Mark says, scratching his beard. "Just grab your guitar or something, and play us a song till dinner's ready."

Leighton seems a little hurt that we don't want to hear the story he tells every night for the past one and a half years, but the fact that Mark asked him to play on his guitar, brightens his world.

He hunches to the big sack behind him, and grabs his guitar.

"What do yah wanna hear, sweety?" he asks me. I sigh, and think. All the songs I used to listen to are all unknown to him. How was I supposed to know he had never heard of Rihanna? Not that I would want to hear him sing 'Rude boy'.

"How about Johnny Cash?" I eventually say. Leighton nods approvingly.

"Some good old Johnny Cash" he mumbles, while tuning his instrument. While he starts singing, Mike puts the can of beans on the fire, and keeps watch over it. Ash sits down next to me on the ground, putting down his large gun, which I learned is called a shot gun.

I swing from one side to the other on the melody of the song, enjoying this little camp fire thing. It almost feels like we're not at the end of the world, but just enjoying our vacation.

Mark puts some of the beans on a plate, and hands it to me. I softly thank him, not wanting to disturb Leighton's singing.

At the end of the song, Leighton lets out a burp. "Sorry."

I let out a laugh, almost choking in my delicious beans. That last thing is meant sarcastically.

"Even the big guy gets hungry sometimes" Mark jokes as he hands Leighton a plate. Leighton looks down at his round belly.

"Big is a strong word" he mumbles, but he does take the plate. I smile, while eating the rest of my meal.

I must've fallen asleep by the time Ash and Mark started talking about where to go and such. It always kinda bores me. I think we don't have to go anywhere. I mean, all the walkers are in the cities, right? We're fine here in the woods. There are just a few of them at once. There have been weeks where we didn't see any of them.

When I wake up, it's still dark outside. Someone, I bet Ash, must've carried me to the tent. I still feel a little tired from all the running and hiding today, so I don't really feel like going out. So I stay under the blanket, and close my eyes. The voices of my friends are just the background, until I start to understand what they're saying.

"….a prison nearby."

"….people…ran into them….dangerous…shot first…."

"Don't need….too risky….Alexa can't…"

Of course, the last voice is Ash's. He always thinks about my safety, he thinks I can't take care of myself. But I'm not the little girl who hid in the wardrobe. I know how to shoot, how to hide, how to use a knife. True, Ash was the one teaching me those things. But that doesn't mean I can't do that by myself.

The rest of the conversation ends in a blur to me, and I just fall asleep again.

I dream of a big room, with strange rooms. Everywhere I look, there is grey. The walls, the floor, everything. Inside the strange rooms, it's also grey. When I walk into one of them, something scary happens. A door closes behind me. But it's not actually a door. More like a gate with bars. I try to open it, but it's too heavy. I try and try, but I'm too weak.

Waking up from this dream is the best feeling you can have in the morning. I sit up in my bed, kicking the blankets of me. It's already hot outside, and the sun is shining bright.

I crawl to the front of the tent, and zip it open. The camp fire is still smoking after last night, the pile of logs not far away from it. The others must be sleeping still.

I stand up, and stretch my arms. It must've been two months since we last did something like watch duties at night. But as further we went from the cities, the less walkers we ran into. Until not even one. We just don't fire guns, and stay on the move every day.

I walk a little away from the camp, to go use a simple form of the lady's room. I'm still yawning while doing my business, and scratch behind my neck.

When done, I pull up my pants, and I'm just zipping up when I hear something. A soft crack, as if someone stepped on a branch. I push my back against the tree, and stop breathing.

I try to hear if I there are footsteps or anything, maybe a slow, dragging pace of a walker. I look around the trunk of the tree, but see nothing but the forest. Am I getting paranoid? Or did I really hear something?

I probably have to tell the others we gotta leave soon. Like, in an hour or so, because this is freaking me out.

I'm making my way back to camp, looking over my shoulder every now and then. At least it was only one sound. Maybe it was a squirrel. They're scary too sometimes. Every living thing is scary once it's hungry enough.

I'm about to step into the circle of tents, as I fall on my knees on the ground. I hide behind some bush, hoping they hadn't heard me coming.

There are people at our camp. Strange people. There's a guy with a beard, pointing his gun at Leighton's head. My friend's sitting on his knees on the ground, his hands above his head. He's begging the man not to kill him.

I put my hand over my mouth, hoping it will still the sobbing. Damn, didn't I say I never cry?

Another guy, with a strange weapon, comes out of one of the tents, with an unconscious Mark dragging over the ground. The man throws him on the ground.

"That all of them?" the beard guy asks.

"All I could find. But at the look of these tents, there must be more of them."

The beard guy nods. I quickly look around. Where the hell is Ash? Did he manage to escape?

There are footsteps, and the two men hold up their weapons, but they lower them as other people step into our camp. They must be from one group.

There's an Asian guy, somewhere in his twenties, and a brown haired girl who seems a little older than the guy.

"Find anything?" beard guy asks. Asian shakes his head.

"Just some tracks, but nothing else."

Suddenly, a hand is put over my mouth. A strong arm pulls me away from the camp, as I struggle to free myself from the arms. I kick with my feet, and scratch with my not very long nails, till the person lets go of me.

"Ash!" I whisper loudly. He puts a finger on his lips, but I'm too glad to see him to think about those horrible people. I jump into Ash's arms.

"They have Leighton and Mark" I whisper in his ear.

"I know" he says as he puts me down. "We have to get out of here."

"What?!"

Ash hesitates. He runs with his finger through his messy hair.

"Ash, we can't leave them" I beg him.

"Look, those people…are very, very dangerous. There's nothing we can do for Leighton and Mark."

I step away from Ash, horrified. "How can you say that? They are our friends, our family! There must be something we can do!"

Ash sighs, shaking his head. "Ok, but you have to listen very carefully. Try to sneak to my tent. My boots are standing at the back, there's a gun in one of them. Loaded. I will distract them, while you run."

"What? No way!"

"Please, keep quiet!" Ash warns. "There's no other way. It's the only way you'll get out of this alive."

"I'm not leaving you, or anyone!" I say, folding my arms. "I'm going to help you, and you can't stop me."

"Ok, how about this? You sneak to my tent and get the gun, while I knock one of them out. They'll be distracted for a while, and we'll be able to surprise them. I'll get Mark, and you'll-"

That's where we hear the first gunshot. Birds fly from the tops of the trees, scared by the loud sound. Ash looks up, into the direction of the camp. I feel all the warmth of my body flow away.

"No…" I gasp. I look at Ash's pale face, and then there's another gunshot. Ash bows his head, leaning with his hand against the tree. I fall on my knees, digging my nails into the dirt. Why can't this just be a dream? Why can't I just close my eyes and wake up in a world where Leighton sings a song while Mark makes dinner and retrieves money from Ash because he won a bet?

"It's not fair" I say, while closing my eyes. "This is so not fair."

I can feel Ash kneels down next to me. "I know. But you have to stand up. Please, we have to get our stuff, and leave, before they'll come after us."

I look up to him, and shake my head.

"Please, Alexa" Ash begs while pulling me off the ground. "We just get the guns, and run. There's nothing we can do for them."

I bow my head. "Where will we go?"

"We'll figure something out." Ash walks past me, determined on the plan. I still feel cold and heartbroken, but I know it's not safe here. But I won't just leave without fighting.

Ash and I near the camp. The people are still there, going through our stuff. I feel a little rage inside of me when I see they've thrown all of my clothes on the ground, but stay quiet.

Ash points at his tent, and I nod. Get the guns. I crawl on my hands and knees over the dirty ground, staying as low as possible. I keep constant watch over where the murderers are, and trying not to look at the two blankets, with under it the corpses of my friends.

Ash's green tent is near the beard guy. I see he's searched through it already, but didn't zip the back open. Lucky for me.

I can see Ash's boots, and reach out for them. I grab the pair, and turn them upside down. The gun falls perfectly on my lap. I check the ammo. Six rounds. Four people. I'll give beard guy two bullets.

I quickly glance around for Ash, and see him hide behind Mark's tent.

I crawl back, as promised, and try to ignore the urge to kill these horrible persons. I literally have my finger on the trigger, but still resist. I shouldn't ruin Ash's plan. Not now that we are so close.

Suddenly, I hear a scream. Ash!

I run back to the camp, and see him lying on the ground, in front of beard guy. Beard kicks Ash's long shotgun, which must've been inside Mark's tent, away, while aiming for his head.

"Are there more of you?" he asks. Ash quickly shakes his head.

"It was just the tree of us. No one else."

"How do yah explain the girl's clothes?" weird weapon guy asks, pointing his early mentioned thing into the direction of the pile.

I suddenly notice how close I stand to this person. I could easily put a bullet in his head. Or I could sneak up behind him, and choke him….

I crawl over the ground again, but this time in the direction of the strange weapon guy. I can hear Ash say something about them using them to start fires. Ridiculous idea.

I'm behind the man, my heart beating fast. The Asian and brown hair girl are both standing aside from Beard. Good, they won't be able to help their friend.

I breath into my nose, as I put the barrel of the gun against the guy's head. "That's about enough."

His three friends all hold up their weapon, but I'm already using their friend as a shield.

"Drop it" I say coldly, meaning his gun. "I said drop it!"

The guy lets go of his weapon. So he listens, that means I have control.

"Now, put your hands up in the air…."

"Alexa, stop!" Ash says, Beard turning his head towards him. "This is not the way!"

"Shut up, Ash!" I say back, my finger trembling on the trigger. I turn towards Beard. "Step away from him, or your friend dies."

Beard eyes me coldly, while pointing his gun at Ash. "I could say the same."

"Don't you think you've killed enough today?" I ask him, hearing there's a little too much emotion in my voice. Beard narrows his eyes.

"It's kill, or be killed" he says. At that moment, a boy steps into the circle of tents. He's about my age, with brown hair and a sheriff hat.

"Dad?" he asks Beard. "What's going on?"

Then, he sees the bodies. He widens his eyes, and inhales shocked.

"Back away, Carl" Beard says to his son.

"Yeah, Carl, back off!" I say, and he turns towards me. He eyes me, and it seems as if he recognizes me. But I don't recognize him from anywhere.

"Alexa, stop it!" Ash says once again. "Let me handle this. We can work this out."

"There is nothing to work out!" I say loudly, almost screaming. "They killed our friends for no reason!"

"Alexa, just listen! This is all a huge misunderstanding!"

"Misunderstanding?! You call this a misunderstanding?!"

Now Beard suddenly steps forward, holding up his hand, and removing his gun from Ash's face. "Calm down, OK? We won't hurt you."

"You already did" I say, with my throat feeling thick. The guy I'm pointing my gun at slowly turns his head.

"Hey kid…"

"Shut up!" I say, but he doesn't listen.

"We lost people too" he continues. "We know what it's like. But yah gotta listen."

I open my mouth to say more, but shut it. We're not getting out of this alive. I know it. Ash and I, we'll die here…there's nothing we can do about it.

"We ran into some people the other day" Beard suddenly says, as if I said I would listen to what he has to say. I think I accidently did. "We have some huge trouble with them. We caught you through a binocular, thought you were those people again…"

"Well, you were wrong!" I say, and Beard surprises me by nodding his head. He looks at his group members, and at his son, and at his friend who I am about to kill.

"Yeah, we were wrong. And I apologize for that." He turns towards Ash. "We are truly sorry for this mistake."

Ash nods understandable. The bastard. "It will be some time to forgive, but I'll never forget." He then turns to me. "Alexa, put the gun down."

"Why? So they can shoot us?"

"We want to offer you a place to patch yourselves up" Beard says, and I see Asian and brown hair are caught by surprise. Seems like Beardy is freestyling. "We have a camp, not far from here. We'll help you look for food, you can rest, and go on your way."

"Sounds good" Ash says before I can even think of answering to that. My jaw drops. What the hell is he thinking? They killed our friends, and now he wants to go to their camp?! Ash quickly looks at me, and I finally drop the gun. There's no way out of this. The guy I was about to kill, now grabs his thing from the ground, and walks back to his group.

"You're an idiot!" I shout to Ash, while he grabs his backpack and starts packing his stuff. He's not paying any attention. He's not listening. "Ash, what are you thinking? We can't do this!"

"Why not?!" Ash suddenly eyes me. "Why can't we go? Is there some other place you wanna check out? A safe haven?"

He looks at me for some time, and I don't know what to say. He kneels down to grab a small book. It's one of Mark's.

"Alexa, we have nowhere else to go" he says after a while. "Just, grab the stuff you can carry."

I stand there, with those creepy people watching us. Beard pats his buddy who was about to die on the back, as if he's done something awesome. The Asian and Brown Hair are happy to see him too, but still keep their eyes on us. Only the boy about my age is silent. He's not even smiling. All he's doing, is watching me. I think I've discovered a new kind of creepy.


	3. Chapter 2: Late

**Thank you all for reviewing last chapter, and for the prologue! It really gives me a lot of motivation! :D**

**Last Sunday's episode was amazing, really. I enjoyed seeing where the rest of the group ended up after what happened at the prison. I almost pissed my pants because I laughed so hard about the part where Glenn has this whole armour on him, and steps out of the smoke, into the herd of walkers. Awesome.**

**So, this chapter! Second, yeey!**

**Leave a review/follow if you like! ^^**

**(Disclaimer; I do not own The Walking Dead)**

**Enjoy! ;)**

_Chapter 2: Late_

Life in the prison isn't that bad. At least, that's what we hoped.

Don't get me wrong, I like the prison. It's save, with strong walls and the fences keep the walkers out. It took us some time to get used to it, but now we are. I know my dad's not himself right now, but at least we're save.

Now, the bad part; it's boring. All the adults, even Beth, treat me like I'm still a kid. Beth and I were getting close, but now she's only caring about my sister. Hershel plays grandpa over me while my dad can't, Daryl keeps avoiding me after an awkward talk where I hissed at him, Carol gets tears in her eyes every time she looks at me, Maggie and Glenn don't talk to me or each other, and Michonne…well, she's kinda new around here. I don't really know her. She just showed up one day, telling us Maggie and Glenn had been captured by a guy called the Governor.

Of course, dad tries to keep me out of it all. To keep me save. I swear, if he doesn't throw me a bone, I'll just die of boredom. Ok, maybe not. Surely not after the shooting. They came out of nowhere. I was on the courtyard, there was a loud gunshot, and Axel fell to the ground with a bullet through his eye. Then there were more shots, and suddenly this van full of walkers drove in, and there was chaos and everything.

It's been a few days now since that happened, and even though it's been not so long, I feel that the boredom is coming back.

At the moment, I walk through the cellblock, stretching my back. The beds aren't as comfy as home, but better than the cold ground. Carol's made breakfast. Porridge, again. I know I shouldn't complain, but I can't help it. I would do anything to get a little bite of a muffin, cake…I would seriously die for pudding. Pudding is the best.

I suddenly notice my dad and Daryl talk very angrily with each other. Whatever the subject is, they both seem to have a different opinion.

"It's the Governor's men, I'm sure" my dad says. Daryl shakes his head.

"Jus' 'cause you saw some moving in your binoculars, doesn't mean they're those bastards again. What if they're not?"

My dad sighs annoyed. "I won't risk our lives just because we think they are not them."

"And I ain't killin' innocent people."

My dad rubs in his eyes. "OK, the only way we can know, if is we check it out. If it is a stake-out, we'll kill them all. If they're not…"

"We can take them in" I say, and both their heads turn. I feel my cheeks get a little warm. I know I shouldn't be overhearing these things.

"Stay out of it, Carl" my dad already begins.

"No, I won't" I say, and he sighs. "You sent Sasha and her group away, for no reason. We sent them out there, which wasn't fair. We can take those people in, right?"

My dad glances at Daryl, who shrugs. "If we're doin' that, we do it carefully. We can't have another scenario like with the prisoners."

"We'll see when we get there" my dad says, with a hand on his gun.

"I wanna come too" I say, knowing he'll just say no again.

"We're already bringing Maggie and Glenn with us."

"So?" I say, trying to sound convincing. "I'm a better shot than Maggie. And if those people are bad, you'll need me. Besides, do you even know how many of them there are?"

"Another reason why you shouldn't come with us" my dad says with a little triumph in his voice. As if he got me quiet now. No way.

"I'm coming, and you're not stopping me. I'm not a kid anymore."

My dad runs with his fingers through his hair, and I see that he's kinda done with this debate. I grin, I did it.

"OK" he says after a while. "Eat some breakfast, and meet us on the courtyard. Don't take too long, kay?"

"Sure" I say, trying not to sound too excited. Finally, I'm going away from these ugly grey walls! Finally, I'll see something else than bars. And perhaps new people. Or not. We'll see.

I swear, I've never eaten Carol's porridge this fast. I ate it in like, thirty seconds, because I didn't want to be late. And I somehow expected my dad to just drive off without me. I didn't know why I thought my dad would be so traitorous, but…I don't know.

I check my ammo for the last time, before running outside. I'm the first one to be at the car. Maggie is the second. I notice she's walking faster than Glenn. I've got the feeling something's up between them, but I don't know what. And something tells me I don't wanna know.

Daryl and my dad come out together. My dad unlocks the car, and I quickly climb in the back. I must look like a little kid on his way to Disneyland, but I don't care. Everyone already looks at me like I'm still a toddler, so how worse could it be?

Daryl walks to the gate, and opens it for us. My dad drives out, and stops the car just outside the prison. Walkers turn their heads to the sound of the engine running. When Daryl has closed the gate, he quickly makes his way to the passenger's seat, giving a walker who gets to close a shove, so that it falls on its back.

When Daryl is seated, we finally go out. Since the Governor road a van through the outside gate, we only have one fence who can keep the walkers out. It kinda worries me. What if something happens while we're gone?

No one else seems to bother. I'm stuck between Maggie at the left, and Glenn at the right. Maggie is wimpling her thumbs, while Glenn just stares at all the green passing by. How ironic.

"Is it far?" I ask, hunching forward between the two front seats.

"Nope, just a mile away" Daryl says, resting his crossbow on his lap. I frown.

"How come you know where they're stationed?"

Daryl glances at my dad, who just keeps his eyes on the road. "When I was out there with Merle, we saw them in the woods. A couple of days ago, just after the shooting, your dad spotted one of them near the fences."

I sit back in my seat. "So you think they have something to do with it?"

Daryl shrugs. "Sounds clear to me. If we wanna win from this Governor-guy, we have to destroy all his spies out there."

I nod, understanding the importance of this mission.

We drive on in silence, till Daryl gives a call to stop. "It's here."

My dad follows at where Daryl is pointing at, and nods. "We'll walk from here."

We get out of the car, and form a circle, as if we're about to play a very important game of soccer. My dad looks at Glenn.

"You and Maggie go together, make your way around. Daryl and I will go the other way. We'll meet at the place. They're probably still sleeping, so we have the surprise at our side."

"What about me?" I ask, knowing he'll just let me stay at the car or something. But he surprises me.

"You'll wait here and count to sixty. When finished, you'll go after us, but in a slower pace. Well leave some signs for you to follow, so you'll go into the right direction. If you do that, you can give us cover if something goes wrong and we have to fall back. Understood?"

I'm a bit overwhelmed, because he's giving me a very important task. And it his tactic sounds very logical in my ears.

I nod certainly. "I understand. I won't let you down."

My dad smiles, and gives my hat a shove, so that it comes to sit a little further on my head. "I know you won't."

He then looks at Daryl, and his face gets a focused impression. I'm being remembered of the importance of his mission. My dad looks around our little group, and nods. "OK, let's go."

With a last glance at me, my dad disappears between the trees. I'm starting to count as soon as he's out of my sight. I don't do it out loud, just in my head.

54….53….52…

I look at my gun, and check the safety. Not that it's ever on. I never put on the safety anymore, not since the farm.

I sigh, and lean with my back against the car. I'm feeling the pressure now, knowing I can't fail. I just hope they don't screw it up while they're doing the job. I just hope no one gets hurt. Except the persons who need to get hurt.

Above all, I just hope my dad and the others aren't killing innocent people. I still can't figure out why my dad sent Sasha and her group away. It's not like they were bad people. Not at all, they seemed just like us; people who tried to survive. Sending them away was a huge mistake. Well, I'm not sure my dad had the intention of sending them away. To me, it seemed as if he wasn't talking to them when he screamed "No, no no! Go away! What do you want from me?"

I'm almost at fifteen. Just fifteen more seconds, before going into action. I'm almost drowning in adrenaline. Finally, some action. I'm almost hoping we'll run into some walkers. Like we don't have enough at the prison. Seriously, I sometimes wonder what's wrong with me.

6 seconds. I make sure my hat stays where I put it on my head. I don't want to lose it if I need to run. The head makes me feel more badass than ever.

3…2…1. I step away from the car, and need to calm myself down before going into the woods. It takes a lot to stop myself from fastening my pace. I'm not supposed to run after them. If I do that, the whole giving everyone cover-plan will fail. And I promised my dad not to let him down. So just stick to the plan, Carl.

I have my finger on the trigger of my gun, and I jump up with every sound I hear. A squirrel seems to scare me more than a herd of walkers. I'm so glad I don't shoot immediately. If I'd do that, I would already be out of bullets my now.

I walk through, stepping over large branches and fallen trees. When I look over my shoulder, I can see I'm making some huge progress. I need to narrow my eyes before I can see something of the car.

I'm just walking in a straight line, and after a while, I get to the first sign. It's the red handkerchief Daryl always has with him. They hung it up by a low branch. I grab it, and put it into my pocket. Then I shake my head.

"I'm so stupid" I mumble, as I hang it on the same branch again. We'll need a way out too. Don't go anywhere if you don't have a way back. I think someone said that on TV. Not sure which show it was. Haven't watched TV in a while, and not really missing it anymore.

I continue my hike, always looking around. I said I was hoping for walkers, but I'm not so sure anymore. Walkers can be scary, but they're terrifying when they're in the woods, because they can hide behind every tree or bush. And you're not likely to hear them coming when you're walking like I am.

After a while, I look up to the roof of leafs above my head. The sun is not that high, so it still must be early. I'm not really someone who sticks with the time. I just wake up at light, and go to bed when it gets dark. In summer, now, I'm already walking around at sunrise, which must be around 5.00-5.30 in the morning.

I then hear something, which makes me kneel down. I listen carefully, and there it is. It sounds like someone is letting out the air of a balloon. No, something different. More as if water is falling on the ground full of leafs.

I move towards the sound, staying low. A little closer, I can see a figure, practically sitting on the ground. I then realize I'm watching someone pee. A woman, to be exactly. She can be one of the Woodbury-people. I feel my heart beating faster. I can't let her notice me, but I also can't let her go back to the camp. She'll probably see my dad and the others killing her friends, and who knows what she'll do.

I move closer and closer, with my gun in my hand. It's the only way. Gah, it sucks.

I'm not focusing, and don't see the sharp branch. It tightens itself to my pants, making me fall on my knees, with the most noise ever. The woman is spooked, and stands up quickly. I hide behind some bushes. She looks around, and I can see her face. It's not a woman, it's a girl. A girl my age. I blink with my eyes, confused. What is she doing here?

She has brown hair, which is just falling over her shoulders, and shiny blue eyes. She's wearing a wide t-shirt and jogging pants, as if she's just rolled out of bed. Her feet are put in a pair of way too big slippers.

She doesn't look like a murderous person I expected the Woodbury-people to look like. She just looks like another person trying to survive, like Sasha and Tyreese. And us. It would be weird if the Governor used kids in as spies. But I'm also part of the group coming to kill such people. It's a little complicated, but I feel like this girl is just a person trying to survive.

If that's so, that means there are no Woodbury-people in these woods. Then there are no people spying on us.

"Shit" I mumble to myself, and move back. The girl stands there for a while, listening if I make another sound. She then turns her back on me, and walks into the direction I was supposed to go.

"Crap, crap, crap" I mumble. I was right. I was right all along. The people here are not Woodbury-people. They are normal people. Survivors.

I have to stop them. I need to get there first, before the girl does. I don't think my dad will kill a girl, but maybe he'll kill the others, just as she gets there. I need to stop them.

I start running. Screw the plan. This is more important. I jump over another fallen tree, scraping my knee over some thorns. I feel blood dripping down my leg, but I don't care. There's no time to cry like a baby because you cut yourself. I don't even feel the pain. I'm too focused on keeping my pace up, and not running into the girl I just met. OK, I didn't actually met her, I saw her. Whatever.

I suddenly hear a gunshot, and I stop running. "No…."

I can't breathe. I'm too late. They've already killed them….

Another gunshot. I feel like my feet are glued to the ground. I can't believe this. My dad, my friends, they've just killed innocent people. I warned them, I said it. I just had the feeling this wasn't the right move. And my feeling is right.

I angrily kick a stone away from my foot. I hate myself. I let this happen. That poor girl…can I at least save her?

I look around for any signs my dad or Daryl may left me. I have no idea where I am. I decide to look for the red handkerchief I found earlier, or something else colourful. The world is spinning around me, and I'm desperately looking for colours. Finally, I spot a blue bandana. It's Maggie's, my dad must've borrowed it from her.

I run towards it, not caring if I make too much noise. I have to go faster. I can't stop to rest. I can't let them kill the girl too.

I pass the tree where the blue bandana is hanging at, and run further. I notice that the further I go, the closer the trees are standing to each other. The forest is getting darker, and soon I'm walking in the shadows. All I hear, are my own feet going through the mud and leafs, and my lungs begging for air. I still hold my gun in my hand, but my finger is off the trigger now. Instead, it's hanging above the safety.

I hear shouting, and I stop. I listen, and there is more shouting. It's coming from my right. I make my way over to it, not running anymore, afraid of what I might see. There's more light over there, as if there's some sort of open space. A perfect place for a camp.

I recognize my dad, and inhaled deeply before I step into the camp side. "Dad? What's going on?"

My dad turns his head to me, and gets a little pale. "Back away, Carl."

I then really see what's going on. At my dad's feet, lays a guy, at the beginning of his twenties. He doesn't look wounded, but my dad has his gun pointed at him. Not far from the guy, lay two bodies. One of them has a bullet hole in his forehead, the other a one through his eye, but it seems as if one of Daryl's arrows had been in there.

"Yeah, back off, Carl!" someone sneers. I look up, and see the girl. She was here faster than I was. I'm too late. She's holding a gun against the back of Daryl's head. Daryl is standing with his hands in the air, and his crossbow and arrows are laying at his feet. Maggie and Glenn are both standing at one side of my dad, holding guns.

"Alexa, stop it!" the guy on the ground says, and the girl turns towards him. "Let me handle this. We can work this out!"

"There's nothing to work out!" Alexa, the girl, says, almost screaming. "They killed our friends, for no reason!"

"Alexa, just listen! This is all a huge misunderstanding!"

I look at my dad, but he's not looking back. I see he's trying to avoid me, knowing I was right.

"Misunderstanding?! You call this a misunderstanding?!" Alexa screams, tears in her eyes. I feel like the worst person in the world. I should've been quicker. She won't get out of this alive.

My dad moves his gun away from Alexa's friend's face, and steps towards Alexa. "Calm down, OK? We won't hurt you."

"You already did" Alexa says, fighting back tears. She literally seemed to just picked the words out of my head. There's nothing my dad can do to make her feel better. Not with the corpses of her friends lying here.

"Hey, kid…" Daryl tries, but is cut off by the girl.

"Shut up!"

"We lost people too" Daryl continues, ignoring her. "We know what it's like. But yah gotta listen."

Alexa opens her mouth to say something against it, but shuts it. She bows her head, hiding her face behind her brown hair. I can see a tear rolling down her face.

"We ran into some people the other day" my dad suddenly says, thinking he can talk now. "We have some huge trouble with them. We caught you through a binocular, thought you were those people again…"

"Well, you were wrong!"

"Yeah, we were wrong" my dad says, nodding his head in remorse. "And I apologize for that." He turns towards the guy laying on the ground. "We are truly sorry for this mistake."

The guy nods, as if he understands. Which I don't get. "It will be some time to forgive, but I'll never forget." He eyes the girl. "Alexa, put the gun down."

"Why? So they can shoot us?"

"We want to offer you a place to patch yourselves up" my dad says, and Maggie and Glenn both look shocked. But I know it's the right thing to do. "We have a camp, not far from here. We'll help you look for food, you can rest, and go on your way."

"Sounds good" the guy responds. I look at my dad, and he glances at me. I smile at him, telling him I'm proud of him. This is the right thing to do.

The guy on the ground, now stands up, and looks at Alexa. Alexa looks back at him, then drops her arm. Daryl looks over his shoulder, than grabs his crossbow, and walk back to Maggie and Glenn. The guy starts packing some stuff from the ground, and puts it in a backpack. Alexa looks shocked at him.

"You're an idiot!" the girls shouts at her friend, but he doesn't respond. "Ash, what are you thinking? We can't do this!"

"Why not?!" the guy, Ash, suddenly says loudly. "Why can't we go? Is there some other place you wanna check out? A safe haven?"

The girl seems surprised by his sudden reaction, and I feel sorry for her. My dad and the others are watching her too.

"Alexa, we have nowhere else to go" Ash says after a while. "Just, grab the stuff you can carry."

Alexa submits after a while, and grabs some clothes. My dad starts talking to Daryl, Maggie and Glenn, making preparations, but I don't listen. I look at the girl, and for a moment, she looks back at me. I smile slightly, which she doesn't return. Instead, she gives me a look full of hatred.

She then disappears in one of the tents.

"Hey" my dad suddenly says, and I realize he's talking to me. "I told you to wait sixty seconds. I knew it took us some time, but there's no way you could've made it this far in such short time."

I look at my dad from under my hat. "I ran into that girl, Alexa. I realized she wasn't one of the Woodbury people, and I knew you were wrong. I came to warn you guys, but I was too late…"

My dad glances at the bodies of the two dead men, and sighs. "I know, I was wrong. But I won't ever make such mistake again. We'll take these two people in, give them some hospitality, and send them on their way."

I nod. "You said something different about Sasha, and Tyreese."

My dad's remorse makes place for coldness. "That was different. We didn't owe them anything. We owe these people a huge apology."

"How do you know they won't avenge their friends?" I say, with a look at the tent where Alexa disappeared in. "What if they'll kill us in our sleep?"

My dad glances at Ash, who's being watched over by Glenn. "They won't succeed. We'll kill them if they try."

My dad then assumes the conversation has finished, and leaves me stunned. I wished I never asked.

Alexa comes out of her tent again, with a backpack full of stuff. She also has changed. She's now wearing skinny jeans, and a T-shirt with the Treasure Cat from Alice in Wonderland on it. Her gun is at her belt.

She walks over to Ash, with her backpack over her shoulder. Ash rubs over her arm, and says something to her I can't hear.

Ash then turns to my dad. "We're ready to go."

My dad nods. "Follow me."

He walks away from the camp side, and Ash is the first one to follow him. Alexa hesitates. I look at her, and it seems as if she can feel it. She turns her head towards me, and rolls with her eyes.

She then quickly makes her way after Ash, and Daryl follows her. He glances over his shoulder, and plays with his eyebrows.

"Shut up" I say to him, but I feel my cheeks get a little red.


	4. Chapter 3: Secrets

**Thanks to everyone who's reviewed to this story! You guys are amazing, and the motivation that keeps me going. **

**Again, feel free to leave a review to improve the story, or follow if you like! ^^**

**(Disclaimer; I do not own The Walking Dead)**

**Enjoy! ;)**

_Chapter 3: Secrets_

I know she hates me. I know it. I can see it at the way she walks, the way she looks out of her eyes, the way she bows her head every time I try to make eye contact with her. I know I'll have to go through this, if I want her to be safe. This is what I need to sacrifice to save her life. It sucks that I cannot tell her the truth, but it's too soon. I'll have to wait.

She won't talk to be until then. Not before we've reached the prison, and we have some time alone. Just the two of us. Then she'll freak out, and shout at me, curse me. But I'm up for it.

Alexa is walking in front of me. She just passed me, bumping into my shoulder on her way. In front of her walks the leader of the companionship we've just joined. I don't know any of their names, just the one of the kid with the sheriff hat, Carl. And he's the son of the leader.

Behind me walk the Asian guy and a girl with brown hair and green eyes. First, I had the feeling they were a couple, but after watching them for a little while, I started doubting that. Maybe their relationship was just going through a rough time.

Behind them, followed the kid, Carl, and he's being followed by the man with the crossbow. Who almost died today. Not that it's an exception. Since the outbreak, there's never been one day where I didn't have to fear for my life.

We walk past a tree, where the leader grabs a red handkerchief from a branch. He looks at me. "We're close."

I just nod, not knowing why he's telling me this. I don't really care if we're close. I just want to get away from our camp. This isn't a fricking tour. The leader's been acting like some godamn tourist guide. I think that makes Alexa even more angry.

The leader throws the cloth to his friend crossbow guy, who puts it in his pocket or something. We go on our way again, through the silent woods. There are no animals, no birds. It kinda scares me. In movies, there's always a moment where there is silence, and you know there's a jumpscare on the way. I feel one coming now, in real life.

I almost get a heart attack when someone appears next to me. I jump up, spooked. The crossbow guy chuckles.

"Woah, calm your tits, man! I'm alive!"

I get my feet back on track, and shrug. "Don't know what to expect these days."

"True" the man says, and he keeps walking beside me. As if he wants something.

"So, what's your name?" I ask, to break the silence.

"Daryl" he says, not even offering me his hand to shake. He just keeps walking, eyes focused on the front. "Ash, I guess?"

"Yup" I say, and Daryl nods.

"So, Ash, what's your story?"

"My…story?"

"Y'know…what did you do before?" he explains. "Everybody's got a story nowadays."

"Well," I sigh, "I worked in a small shop when it hit. I met two of my colleagues, and we tried to make it out of the city. When we were on supply run, we went inside of a house, and that's when we found Alexa."

"The girl" Daryl says, nodding towards Alexa, walking a little further in front of us.

"Yeah, and we took her in, took care of her, learned her some stuff..." I continue. "We were still looking for a save place, things weren't going so well, and then you guys came along…"

"And fucked things up" Daryl says, as if he wants to finish my sentence. Actually, he just gave it another end than I wanted to.

"Well, not exactly…" I try, but I see he's not really listening. Instead, he moves his head closer to me, and starts talking softer.

"Yah can try to pull this act off all you want. Try to fit in, make friends, everything. But if you do anything stupid, I'll cut your and your little friend's throats. Got it?"

I swallow a lump down my throat, and nod. "Understood."

Daryl moves back again, and holds in a few steps, so he's walking behind me again. The whole secrecy thing is going to get me killed, but I just have to push through. It's too soon to tell.

Finally, I can see some more light at the horizon. The road. The sun is a little further up the sky. It must be around noon. It's light is reflecting at the front of a car, and shines into my eyes.

"Ah, shit" I hear the leader say. He stops, and we all stop walking.

"Rick? Something wrong?" Asian asks, and the leader signs to him to come forward. Daryl and the brown haired girl follow him.

"See that?" Rick points, and I too follow his finger. I see some figures around the car. Biters. Great. There are a lot of them.

"What do we do?" brown haired girl asks.

"Circle around them. I'll take the east, Glenn can take the axe to the west" Daryl says, nodding towards Asian. Glenn nods.

"You'll close them in, and we'll help if necessary" Rick says, "but no bullets."

He then turns to me. "You and Alexa stay here with Carl."

I nod, about to say we'll do it, but then I see Alexa running towards the car. "Shit!"

Rick turns around, and curses too.

"I'll get her" I say, throwing my backpack on the ground, and running after Alexa.

"I'll go with him" I hear Daryl say, and I can hear his footsteps following me. Alexa is quick. The forest is her territory. It's been her home for almost six months. She knows how to move fast in these spaces.

She's almost at the road, but then she stops. I've almost reached her, and have no idea what she's doing. She's just standing there. Then, she moves her hands up her mouth, and makes a big horn.

I beg my long legs to pull through a little more. Alexa is already taking a deep breath, readying herself for a loud yell. I feel pain in my chest, but try to ignore it.

The last feet, I fly through the air. I put my arm around Alexa's mouth, and fall on top of her onto the ground. She struggles, kicks her feet around and tries to scratch my arms with her nails. All the sound she's making, is a muted mumbling.

Loud enough to make the biters at the car turn their heads, and notice us. There's a moment of staring, with yellow green eyes analysing the fresh flesh and blood, surrounded by mud and wood.

Then, they start making their way over to us.

I stand up, and pull Alexa along. As soon as she's on her feet, she starts screaming at the biters. "Here! They're here! Come and get them, you ugly bastards!"

I pull Alexa with me when I run back to the group. "Shut up!"

I hear a soft whistle, and see something fly through the air. A second later, a biter drops to the ground, with an arrow sticking out of its eye. When I look in front of me, I can see Daryl with his crossbow hold in front of him.

Glenn, Asian guy, is running at us, with a small axe in the air. He plants it into the skull of a biter about to grab us. He quickly moves back, more of them trying to reach out to him. There's a loud gunshot, and smoke is coming out of the barrel of Rick's gun.

The brown haired girl puts her bag on the ground, and searches through it. What she holds in her hands, is a large machine gun.

She starts shooting as soon as Alexa and I have reached our bags. I search through my back pack, and grab my shot gun. Checking the ammo, I can see Alexa standing up from the corner of my eye. She has her own handgun in her hand, and the finger on the trigger. She's aiming at the biters. At least, that's what I think. Then, I notice the barrel is pointed at Daryl.

I quickly jump up, and push Alexa to the ground with my shoulder. Her gun shots in the air, not hurting anything. I quickly grab her gun, and put it at my belt.

"Stop this shit, now!" I say to her. Alexa narrows her eyes angrily at me, but stays on the ground.

I turn to help the others with the biters. I first fire all I have in the shot gun, which isn't much.

Daryl is running around between the piles of corpses, retrieving his arrows from the skulls, and reloading, while Glenn finishes off the walkers following his friend. The brown haired girl keeps shooting, and Rick and Carl both have teamed up and shoot with two small revolvers.

Bodies are dropping every second, and more walkers are attracted to the noise. For about ten minutes, they keep coming constantly, but after a while, it stops.

Daryl is the one to shoot the last walking corpse. When he pulls out the arrow of the skull, he takes a look around.

"I ain't cleanin' this mess up" he says with a glance at Alexa, who's slowly standing up. She avoids my angry look at her, and walks to her back pack.

Rick has a quick chat with Glenn and the brown haired girl, and then walks over to me.

"There's not enough room in the car for all of us" he explains, already talking as if nothing happened. I lift my eyebrows, but hear him out. "Maggie, Carl and I will go back to our camp with the car, and Glenn and Daryl will lead you to it on foot."

I glance at the brown haired girl, Maggie, and at Alexa. "Sure. I'll try to keep Alexa calm."

Rick nods understandable. But I don't get why he still gives us the chance to stay with them, after what Alexa has done. And tried to do. "It won't be a long walk. It's about a mile east. Just follow the road, and we'll open the gates when we see you."

"Gates?" I ask out loud, and Rick slightly grins. It's weird to see him grin. At him, it looks as if he doesn't do that a lot.

"The place is bigger than you think." With that said, he turns around to walk back to his friends. Alexa is sitting on a stone, playing with a knife in her hand. I sigh, not out loud, but inside. I really wish I could tell her the truth about Leighton and Mark. But it will turn her whole world around. She's been through so much already.

I notice Carl, not standing far away from her. He takes a step, but then hesitates. Alexa doesn't respond, or doesn't want to. Carl takes it as something positive, and moves even closer. He attempts to sit next to her on the stone. Alexa slightly moves her head, and notices him. She abruptly stands up, and walks away from the stone. Carl bows his head, trying to hide his red cheeks of shame.

Even after everything, I still manage to smile at the little scene happening in front of me.

"What's so funny?" Daryl asks me, and I turn my head. The rest is about to go on the way again, and I'm the only one still standing, except for Carl, who's sitting on the stone. He now quickly stands up, after hearing Daryl's voice.

"Nothing, an old memory" I reply, following the man towards the car. Rick and Maggie are both putting their stuff in the trunk of the car. Rick nods at me.

"You can put your stuff here, if you want."

I smile gratefully at him. "Thanks."

I put my back pack in the trunk, and turn to look at Alexa. I sign to her to do the same, but she shakes her head. "Nah, I'm good."

She turns her back on us, and starts walking down the road. Daryl snorts, as if he's patronizing the lack of authority between Alexa and me. He walks after her, as if he's afraid she'll do some more stupid things.

"I guess we'll meet you there" Rick says, and I nod. He walks to the front of the car, and sits down behind the wheel. I watch the car leave, and then I'm only left with my shot gun in my hand, and Glenn standing not far away from me. I suddenly notice a huge bruise at one side of his face. It's not fresh, it already looks a little green, as if it happened a few days ago.

He nods his head coldly at the direction Alexa and Daryl are walking in. "C'mon."

The rest of the trip goes by in a blur. All I know of it, is a lot of green, walking, dust, and silence. Glenn is about my age. If we met in a different way or time, we probably would've become friends. Maybe we still have a chance of friendship. But not today.

At the first sight of their so called camp, I would say it's a gate to hell. Or maybe hell itself. There are unstable fences, with walkers around every corner. Many of the biters we came across on the way or we met in the forest after Alexa's stupid action, must've come from here. Even behind the first fence are walkers. There's this huge field where they're stumbling around. There's one big van lying on its side, and it looks like a van where prisoners were transported with, before shit hit the fan. Wow, poor choice of words. There's another vehicle, standing in the middle, as if it forms the centre of evil.

There's a spot in the outside fence where the gate probably must've been. Now, there's just a huge gap. I notice car tracks as I run through it, and the trail goes on till the centre of evil. Whatever happened in here, it was really mad.

As I said, we're running now. There are biters everywhere around here. Maybe they think it's a good way for camouflage or something. Keep your friends close, enemies closer, or something. Well, that's bullshit. It's freaking terrifying.

All I can focus on, is Alexa. She's by far the fastest of us. She's the first one the get to the second gate, where you can see a courtyard when you get closer. Rick is opening the gate, along with a dark skinned woman, with some sort of samurai sword on her back.

Alexa runs through it, and turns around. For the first time in hours, she looks me in the eyes. She's worried about me. She wants me to make it to here. She doesn't completely hate me.

It gives me the courage to pull through. I hold my shot gun close, slamming the skull of a biter getting to close to my ass. I'm almost at the gate, when I hear a thud. I look over my shoulder, and see Glenn lying on the ground, with a biter pulling at his jeans.

I immediately run back, not even thinking about what I'm doing. Just following my instincts.

With the back of my shot gun, I smash the skull of the undead bastard. I have to do this shit at least two times, before he finally stops moving.

I kick another bastard in the chest, and it falls back, taking a few of his friends with him to the ground. I pull Glenn up by his shoulder, and drag him to the gate.

On the courtyard, he falls on his knees, sweat dripping down his face.

"You OK?" I ask, and he nods.

"Thanks" he says, looking up.

"No prob" I mumble, suddenly noticing more people standing around us. I recognize Maggie, who's standing next to an unfamiliar blonde girl and an old man with crutches. Carl is standing not far away from them, with behind him a short haired woman with a baby in her arms. A bàby! They had a baby, in here. What the hell.

After a long stare at the baby, I notice another guy. But this guy is weird. Really weird. He has only one hand, and at the other, he's got a knife taped to the stump. Around the stump itself, there's some sort of aluminium construction. Fucking cyborg, man.

Then there's the dark skinned woman, who's standing next to Rick. She's narrowed her eyes at me, hands on her hips. She looks like a snake, about to attack its pray.

"Well," Rick eventually says, turning to the group of people. "These people are Alexa, and Ash. They'll stay here for a while."

I notice the old man nodding approving. There must've been something going on here, about bringing in new people.

Rick turns to me. "We've cleared a cellblock for you guys. Maggie will take you there."

"Thanks," I say, walking towards one of the metal tables, where my backpack is laying on. I try to ignore all the pairs of eyes watching me as I follow Maggie to the inside of the prison. Thank god, Alexa isn't making another scene, and is just following me without any protest.

The first few steps are dark. It's cool in the prison, the thick walls blocking the sunlight from getting in. Our footsteps echo, so this place must be huge. I can hear things crunch and creak, as if wind is blowing through all the time.

When we step into light again, it's in the cellblock. Maggie holds open the door for us. I blink against the brightness, and stumble inside. The place smells a little odd, and dust is flying through the air, but it has walls and safety.

"This is it" Maggie says, opening the gate to the cells for us. I walk inside, overwhelmed.

"It's…..amazing" I stutter, putting my bag on the ground. I take a look in one of the cells. "You've got beds!"

"We made them ready for you" Maggie says with a smile. I see Alexa rolling with her eyes, but she keeps her mouth shut.

"Thank you so much for this" I say to Maggie, and smiles.

"Let me know if you need anything" she says, walking back to the hall. "I'll bring you some food later."

When Maggie has disappeared, Alexa and I are alone again. I try to ignore her at first, and make myself comfortable in one of the cells with beds. They've made two of them ready. One for me and one for her.

I'm unpacking my things, sorting out my weapons and spreading out my own blanket. Alexa comes to stand in the entrance. For a while, I can feel her eyes watching me. I do not look up, and just continue what I'm doing.

When finished, I sit down on the bed, and grab a book. I pretend to turn some pages.

"Aren't you gonna say anything?" I ask after a while. She shrugs.

"Maybe. Got nothing to say. Nothing more."

I close the book, and stand up. "Well, I have a hell lot to say. What the hell were you thinking?!"

I turn to her, looking her in the eyes. "You tried to kill Daryl, twice!"

"Oh, so now you give them names?!" Alexa says back, crossing her arms over her chest. "What the hell are YOU thinking?!"

"I'm thinking about us, about our future! We were going to die if we stayed with Leighton and Mark!"

"How can you say that?!" Alexa yells, tears in her eyes. "How can you be that harsh?!"

I sigh frustrated. _I can't tell you. _"Please, Alexa, believe me. This is our best shot."

"You chose yourself over your friends" Alexa gasps, shocked. "What has gotten to you?!"

"This is how it works now, Al!" I say, "This is how we survive!"

"You know nothing about surviving!" Alexa screams, angrily wiping the tears of her cheeks. "All you do, is caring for yourself. You always take the easy way out, not thinking about other people."

"I care about you!" I shout frustrated, throwing my hands in the air. "Every choice I made since I found you in that wardrobe, was to protect you! You need to believe me when I say that coming here was our best choice."

Alexa widens her eyes, progressing my words. She makes fists of her hands, bowing her head. She lets out a soft sob, breaking my heart with it. I kneel down in front of her, our faces close together.

"Hey" I say softer, but she pushes me away. "C'mon, Alexa."

"No" she says, sounding tired. "I don't….I can't. You keep making decisions over me, but why? I didn't know you before. I owe you nothing. Why do you keep watching over me like a guardian? I don't need that. I can take care of myself."

She takes a step back, her bright eyes looking like small lights between her brown hair, covering her face. "I don't need you. I don't need anyone."

Before I can say anything else, she starts running. I stand up, trying to get a hold of her, but she's already fled into the dark hall.

"Al! Alexa!" I shout after her, but it doesn't help. I think about going after her, but that won't do any good, I already know it.

"Fuck!" I shout, and kick my foot against the wall. Why am I so bad at this?


	5. Chapter 4: Mean girl

**Sorry for not uploading on Friday, I had a little drama that needed to be solved (long story short; I told a guy I liked him, and he doesn't know if he feels the same about me...)**

**Still, I managed to write something nice for you guys to read. I hope.**

**Leave a review/follow if you like! ^^**

**(Disclaimer; I do not own The Walking Dead)**

**Enjoy! ;)**

_Chapter 4: Mean girl_

I don't really see where I'm going. It's dark. I can't even see my own hands when I hold them in front of my face. I bet I can't even find my own nose.

Wait, I think I got it.

I snort, and shake my head. What am I doing with my life?

I feel miserable. I feel like the worst person in the world. I've never shouted at Ash like that. Never. I never said things like that to him. I didn't even mean it. Not all of it.

Seriously, who am I kidding? Of course I need Ash. I would be nowhere if he wasn't around. I probably would be walking around as a walker if he hadn't been there. Even if something would happen to him right now, I would be lost. I don't think I would be able to live on if Ash was gone.

I feel a big lump in my throat. I stop walking, and bow my head.

"Stop it, you pussy" I mumble to myself. I don't want to cry. I told myself I would never cry again.

And yes, I know I broke my own stupid rule more than once today. But not letting a tear for your friends who've died today, wouldn't be normal either.

I close my eyes, and open them again. Yup, can't see a damn thing.

I extend my arm, searching for a wall, or something else to lead me away from here. Back to Ash, or the somewhere else. I don't care. I want to get out of here.

I feel some cold metal, and realize it's a door. Wow. And I didn't even notice. All those months without school really have paid off. Cough.

I search over the door with both my hands, till I bump into the knob. I turn it, and push with my shoulder against it. The door is less heavy than I expected, and I basically fall to the outside.

I fall dramatically on my knees, the sun shining brightly in my eyes. I blink against it, not that it helps. It must be around dinner time, but still that yellow bastard is shining like he'd never done before.

I stumble on my feet, till I stand up straight. I wipe some hair out of my face, realizing I'm sweating like a dog.

After all I've been through, I still worry about how I look. And I'm really the only one who cares. Ash doesn't, Mark didn't, Leighton didn't. Perhaps Carl does.

Wait, what? Why am I thinking of him? He's a dork. A helpless kid who listens to his daddy. I guess I could say that I really don't like him.

I sigh, and take a look around. I'm landed on some kind of courtyard. But another then the one Ash and I arrived on. This is at the other end, and almost looks identical. There are metal table's here and there. There are even walkers to brighten up the place, lurking at the fence all day. Only difference is, is that there is gym equipment here, probably for the guys who used to do their time here.

I smirk at it, and walk towards some huge dumbbells. I kick at one with my toe. How strong am I actually? Am I able to lift these?

"Hell, who cares" I grumble, as I kneel down to pick the stuff up. I'm immediately pulled to the ground by the weight. "OK, maybe I underestimated this a little."

I take a deep breath, and pull the dumbbells up. I try to keep the action in my arms, like my dad often said when I asked him why he always lifted those things.

Even though I don't know how idiotic I must look right now, I try to pretend to be as strong as my dad was.

But already after lifting 15 times, I feel like I've done enough exercising for a week. A month. Maybe a year. Maybe forever.

I drop the heavy weight, and feel relief.

"Well, that was pretty useless" I smirk, and I hear a soft chuckle behind me. I quickly turn around, with a hand on my belt. But my knife isn't there. Shit, must've put it in my backpack or something.

But as soon as I recognize the person standing there, I know I don't need a knife to bring him down.

As if I'm speaking of the devil, Carl is leaning against one of the metal tables. He's crossed his arms, and is standing with one leg over the other. His hat throws a shadow over his eyes, and he has a slight grin around his lips.

I roll with my eyes, trying to look like I don't give a shit. But honestly, I don't know what to do. Should I say something? Like 'Fuck off'? Or maybe 'Hello'? Or nothing?

I decide to just turn my back on him, and leave. But unfortunately, he stops me by starting to chat.

"I thought you were doing pretty good" he says, nodding towards the dumbbells on the ground. I look over my shoulder, with narrowed eyes.

"Do you have any idea how creepy that sounds?" I say with a bitchy attitude. "You seem to me like a pervert."

"Oh, well…" he looks at the ground, and I'm surprised. He looks as if he's someone stepped on his tail. "I'm sorry. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable."

I turn around fully now, again feeling like a terrible person. I feel miserable myself, but I'm also making the people around me feel miserable. "It's OK. I'm sorry too, for being so liverish. I mean-"

"I understand" Carl interrupts me, not in a bad way. He looks me in the eyes, saying that he really understands. "We know what it's like to lose people."

I take a seat on something that looks like rowing machine. "I bet you've never stayed with the people who were responsible for their deaths."

Carl sighs, bowing his head again. "Well, I can tell you something that's happened that's kinda alike. I mean…have you seen the guy with the knife arm?"

I frown, digging through my memory. Carl looks up at me, waiting for an answer.

"I remember seeing a guy with some metal thing around his arm…" I say slowly. "What about 'm?"

"Well" Carl says, stepping away from the table, and casually walking towards me. "He's Daryl's brother. But he's also the guy that kidnapped and abused Glenn and Maggie."

I feel that my jaw drops out of shock. "The fuck? How…why….huh?"

Carl stops a few feet away from me, and I'm glad he does. I still think he's creepy, even though he's trying so hard to be nice.

"He was friends with this guy whom we thought you guys were with" Carl explains. I nod, even though I still think it's not fair what happened.

"That's understandable" I say after a while, standing up. "But it doesn't change the fact that you've killed my friends. Family of mine."

I see that Carl bites his lip. "Yes. It's a terrible mistake. And we're deeply sorry for that."

I step towards him, making fists of my hands . "Oh, you are? Wow, you're such a good person!"

The sarcasm is dripping of my voice like melting ice. Carl keeps his arms crossed, but his eyebrows make a deep worried frown.

We're standing face to face now, and I really need to pretend not to want to kill him. Right here, right now. I have the chance. There's nobody around. I could choke him, and feed his body to the walkers, and say it's an accident. I could get away with it, and before that Beard guy finds out it wasn't an accident, Ash and I could be long gone. Rick's killed my friends, so I'll take someone he loves from him. Seems fair, doesn't it?

I bite the inside of my cheek, till I taste blood. With gritted teeth, I spit the words in Carl's face.

"Stay away from us. Don't talk, don't look, don't do ANYTHING. You hear me?"

Carl keeps a straight face, looking me in the eyes. I look for a time in those watery blue eyes. I narrow mine when I feel a little shiver over my back. Why is he doing this?

Out of nowhere, I give him a shove. Carl stumbles back, taken my surprise. He bumps with his back against the fence, walkers quickly nearing to take a bite. I put my hands on my hips, watching the show. Carl quickly grabs his gun, turning away from the fence. He escapes from a rotting hand grabbing his shirt.

Carl lowers his gun and looks at me. "What the hell?!"

I shrug, folding my arms. "They looked hungry."

With that, I finally turn my back on him, and walk away. I don't really know where to go, I'm just walking. I'll see where I end up.

I have a smirk on my face, but feel cold on the inside. I'm truly a horrible person. I almost killed Carl. OK, maybe not. He can manage himself, I saw it. But still, it wasn't a nice thing to do.

He tried to be nice. Or to come off nice. It could be trick. Like Beard wants Carl to get friendly with Ash and me, to get to know stuff about us. And when we finally let our guard down, he'll kill us.

I shake my head, and fasten my pace. I'm getting paranoid. Really, who thinks of something that crazy?

Maybe Carl is just being nice. Maybe he isn't.

I stop walking, and look up. I've not made a long walk, really. But I have reached some watch tower. It's one where the guards with the guns in the movies always sit and watch everything and shoot the people who tried to escape and such.

I walk to the entrance. The dusty door is closed, but doesn't look that strong anymore. I push it open with one arm, and with it scrapes over the floor like nails over a school board. It's an uncomfortable sound to my ears, and I try not to make more of it by squeezing through.

The inside of the tower smells like shit. Really, it makes me sick. It smells like those dirty toilets on train stations. The ones that have been used by so many people that it doesn't flush properly. That smell.

There's a ladder to the top. I climb up, trying not to breathe very much. I quickly go up to a less smellier spot. When I'm at the top, I can finally breathe in some fresh air.

The top feels like a small house. It's a square with a one chair, and there's a blanket on the floor. Probably for the people who had watch duty at night.

There's one door that leads to a balcony. I go outside, and I can see the whole prison from here. I wish I hadn't done this. Because now I can see a part of the prison where a wall has fallen. Walkers are able to climb over the parts of baton, and get inside. It makes the dark halls even creepier knowing that those bastards could be around every corner.

I decide to go back inside. I lean back in the chair. It has wheels on it, and you can spin around. It's one of those awesome chairs villains have in the movies. The ones where they turn around in, and have a huge white car on their arm, and they're patting it while they see 'Hello, Bond' or something like that.

I chuckle at myself. I'm an idiot. I'm going crazy.

I start laughing even louder at my own stupid joke. It's not even funny anymore. But I can't stop it. I laugh like I've never laughed before. My stomach hurts. I even slap my own knee. I can't breathe, because I'm laughing so hard.

I have to cough and catch my breathe. Tears are streaming down my face because I'm having so much fun. Over nothing.

This goes on for about a minute or two. It's just me laughing, spinning around in a chair. I think about nothing, and just watch the world rush by, spinning around. I can only hear my own laughter echo in the small space. It bounces against the walls, and comes back to me. I lift my feet, and let the air take them away.

At one point, I start to laugh softer. My voice is like a dying fire, fading away slowly. It keeps dying, till just a small giggle. My cheeks hurt, and my belly feels like a big nothing.

I stop spinning around in the chair, and just sit there for a moment. I stare to the outside, through the darkened window of the tower. It takes some time to get my head cleared. Bit by bit, thoughts and memories are coming back into my mind.

Memories of what my life used to be. Memories of my parents. My friends. Classmates. The girl that lived across the street whom I always hated. The guy I was always jealous of for having such a cool motor cycle. My neighbour's dog that always barked at 4 in the morning.

I swallow a lump down my throat. I haven't thought about my life before _it _happened. I never thought about my parents. I don't even remember what they look like. All I remember when I think of them, is two pairs of yellow green eyes and grabby arms.

I pull up my knees to my chest, and make myself small. I feel like I'm small. This world is big. It became even bigger when the walkers started happening. We used to get anywhere so fast. We had cars, subways, busses, trains, planes, boats. We had everything. It took people years to get this far, and was all gone in just two weeks.

It took the world two weeks to get to this point. I don't think anything has changed since the last week of fatal week. It was the day the government fell. From that point on, everything started go down even deeper than it already was.

I rest my forehead on my knees, my hair falling over my face. I actually feel comfortable here. Like I can stay here for a while. Ash will probably come looking for me after a while. And he'll probably find me. But for now, I can just relax.

There's a loud thud, and I feel pain in my head. I blink with my eyes, and sit up.

"The fuck?" I mumble, still drunk of sleep. I wipe the hair out of my face. It's glued to my face with slime. Ugh.

I stand up, and stretch my neck. I must've fallen asleep, and probably fell out of the chair. My knees and arms hurt like hell. Feeling so comfortable earlier really pays off. Cough, cough.

I open the door to the small balcony, and lean over the balustrade. It's morning already. The sunrise really is beautiful from here.

I hold my hand above my eyes, protecting them against the bright orange light. The sun is purple-red, the clouds looking like a painting from Picasso. Or some other artist. I don't know much of art.

I turn around, and look at myself in the darkened glass. I try to make something decent of my hair, rub over the dark circles under my eyes, and flatten my top.

I make my way down the tower, to the ground. When I'm back at the courtyard and pass the 'gym', I smirk to myself. I don't feel like working out today.

I notice the growling and moaning of the undead bastards at the fence, and look over my shoulder. There's a small group standing there, reaching their arms out to me.

I stick out my tongue to them. They seem to growl even louder, and I lift an eyebrow.

"Stupid walkers" I mumble, shaking my head.

Finding my way back to the right cellblock wasn't that hard. I must be smarter than I thought.

Ash literally flies at my, taking me in a hug and dragging me across the room.

"Al, are you OK?" he asks worried. I nod, at least, I try to. He's almost killing me in a hug.

"I'm fine, little hungry" I say, as he puts me down on the ground. He ruffs my hair I tried so desperately to fix. I grunt, trying to flatten it again.

"I can help with that" he says. First, I think he's talking about my hair. But he walks to one of the cells, and comes back with a plate with something that looks like porridge. Or cereal. I'm not sure.

"Carol brought it" Ash says, handing the 'food' to me. I lift an eyebrow.

"Who?"

"One of those people" Ash says, giving me a spoon too. "They're not that bad, you know."

"Sure" I say softly, sitting down on the ground, eating some of my breakfast. The taste at first is something to get used to. But when you're through the first bitterness, it's not that bad. There's a little sugar, maybe some butter, and when you swallow it there's the after taste of fresh bread. I frown. Whoever this Carol is; she's one hell of a cook. Or breakfast maker. Something like that.

Ash sits down on the steps of the stair case to the upper cells. At the look of the red on his cheeks, I assume he's already had his porridge. I also notice that he's playing nervously with his hands. I take another bite, and point with the spoon at him.

"What's wrong?" I ask, trying to sound like yesterday never happened. Hey, he began with it, so I'll just play along.

He shrugs. "There's not really something wrong, but….you'll probably don't like what I'm about to tell you."

I swallow my food, and put my plate down on the ground. "What is it?"

"Well…." he hesitates, clapping his hands together. "Rick…_offered _ us to go along with a run. For supplies."

I bite my tongue, preventing myself from shouting at him again. I've already hurt him. The scars are all over his face. Not real scars, but like…mental ones. Scars in his heart. I don't want to open those wounds again.

"Are you going?" I ask as calmly as possible. Ash smiles slightly, grateful for my calm reaction. Even though I'm energetic from the inside.

"I don't know. I told him I wanted to discuss it with you first. So, what do you think?"

I balance the spoon on my hand, just trying to stay calm. "I think we should go. Both of us."

Ash nods, but I see he's not happy with it. "I know you don't trust them, but maybe you should stay here, get comfortable here, make some friends…."

I shake my head. "No way. I'm coming along. We don't know these people. And I want to look for some candy too. I really need some Haribo."

Ash grins, and thinks it through. "OK. You can come too."

"Great" I say, and thinking about where I left my knife again at the same time. "Who are coming too?"

"Rick himself" Ash says, looking a little more comfortable. I smile at that. He looks better than yesterday. "And Glenn. That's about it."

I nod, smiling. Carl's not coming. Good.

But then I realize something. What if Carl told his dad about what I did yesterday. Shit.

"Hey…uh, when did he ask you this?" I ask Ash, trying to sound as casual as possible. Ash ruffs his hair, not knowing the stress I'm in.

"This morning. He came just after Carol."

I sigh from the inside, relief flowing through my body. Carl hasn't told them yet. "Kay, cool. When are we going? And where?"

Ash stands up. "When we're ready. You can change your clothes if you like. And we're hitting this town nearby. It has a pharmacy, and a small supermarket."

I stand up too, walking towards my backpack that's still standing in the corner. "Then they must have some Haribo's."

I kneel down, and grab some clothes. I decide to just wear the same jeans, but change my shirt. I know Ash is still close, but I bet he doesn't see me grabbing my knife and wrap it in my black t-shirt.

I stand up innocently. "So, where's the bathroom around here?"

Ash nods over his shoulder. "Just through there. Don't take too long. Walkers don't care if you're wearing make- up or not."

I roll with my eyes. "Then you should wash your face, bro."

Ash opens the gate to the C-block, and immediately, a group of heads are turned in our direction. I pull my shirt a little lower. Not to show my sexy small breasts, but to hide the knife at my belt.

We're greeted by Beard himself, who comes walking up to us. He nods at both of us. "Mornin'. You guys ready?"

Ash nods, with a quick glance at me. "As good as."

Beard nods. "Good. Follow me. The car's just outside."

He turns around, expecting us to follow him. Ash does, but I hesitate. I feel like I'm at a party where I don't know anybody. Everybody in the room is staring at me.

I make fists of my hands, and lift my chin up. I must look like the new rich girl in town, but I don't care. I don't like these people, and they don't like me.

I keep a straight face as I walk through the cellblock, following Ash. Thank god, Carl's not in here. I'm not really in the mood to see his pathetic face.

Outside, we've landed on the same courtyard we arrived on. There's a green Hyundai, with an open trunk. Daryl, a.k.a the guy I tried to kill, is loading some empty boxes in there. Probably to put all the supplies in.

I'm honestly glad he's not coming. It would be awkward to sit in the same car.

We walk towards the vehicle, and Daryl closes the trunk. Rick walks to the driver's side. Glenn is nowhere to be seen yet.

"He's no his way" Rick says, when he sees me looking around. I don't feel like saying anything back. I don't have to.

I just walk to the back, and sit down behind the passenger's seat. I can feel my knife under my shirt. Ash made me promise not to take Mark's gun with me, so I left it in the cellblock. He, on the other hand, took his shotgun with him. He's carrying it with, keeping it close. He said these people weren't so bad. This totally confirms that. Cough, cough, cough.

The door to the cellblock opens again, and Glenn steps into the sun. He carries a rifle with him, and has a serious expression on his face. Like he's going on some kind of mission.

I watch him as he nears the car. He looks like a guy who used to sit inside all the time, playing video games. But now, he's totally changed into some adult who only talks about important stuff.

Or maybe I'm all wrong. Maybe he used to be a business guy. Or a factory worker. A pizza delivery man. Something like that.

Glenn nods to Ash, which probably means 'Hello'. He doesn't do the same to me. Not that it hurts me.

I turn my head when I hear the door open another time. This time, it's someone unexpected. Somebody I hoped to never see again.

He's wearing his usual hat over his brown hair, and a gun at his belt. He did change his shirt. (Why do I bother to notice?) And his shoes look cleaner than they were yesterday.

I try to catch Ash's eyes, but he looks just as surprised as me. So I turn to Rick.

"I thought just the two of you were coming along...?"

Rick looks at me through the rear view mirror. "Another guy extra don't hurt anybody."

I bite my tongue once again, knowing I shouldn't make a scene. I've already embarrassed myself too many times.

Carl opens the car door at the other side, and moves to the middle of the seat. He's sitting next to me.

I try not to look at him, and just focus on the window. Glenn and Ash also get in the car, and Rick starts the engine.

Daryl walks to the gate, and opens it for us. I focus on the beautiful view of walkers, and try not to think about his knee touching mine, and his fingers bumping to my leg every time the car makes a turn.

This is going to be a long day.


	6. Chapter 5: Don't let go

**After a little depression, I'm back, and stronger than ever! **

**Thanks to the people who've reviewed or followed this story so far! **

**I hope you guys like this chappie too!**

**(Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead. I do have a t-shirt from it)**

**Enjoy! ;)**

_Chapter 5: Don't let go_

While the car is driving, I just try not to look at _her_. She's sitting right next to me, our knees pushed together in the small space, because Ash's long legs push mine away. Against Alexa's.

Just pretending she's not here at all. I don't want her to be here. I don't want to talk to her. I don't want to have anything to do with her.

She tried to kill me yesterday. Although she didn't succeed, it still was a pretty good attempt.

How was I supposed to know she would come along too? Dad said only that Ash-guy said he wanted to go with us, to get supplies for him and Alexa.

If I'm really honest with myself, I have to say that I might've seen it coming. A little. C'mon, who leaves his only friend with a couple of strangers who killed your other friends the day before? I know I wouldn't.

And Alexa doesn't trust us at all. Her behaviour from yesterday only confirms that.

I notice dad keeps eying me through the rear view mirror while driving. Dude, keep your eyes on the road.

Glenn has a shotgun in his one hand, and another on his knee, his fingers tapping nervously on the bone. Ash, on the other hand, seems to be pretty calm. Or maybe he only looks that way. I don't know this guy, so I can't see when he's pretending or not.

Finally, my dad drives the car onto a parking lot of what looks like a small supermarket. The one where all the cheap candy comes from.

Glenn is the first one the step out, and my dad follows. They quickly check the area by looking around, and Glenn sneaks past some windows, peeking through the glass.

Ash opens the car door silently, and I follow him, because I don't want to go out from Alexa's side. I walk towards my dad, as far away from her as possible. She stays close to Ash. Only problem is; Ash stays close to my dad.

Acting like she's nothing but air, we make our way to the front door. Glenn has his hand on the doorknob. My dad leans with his back against the wall at the opposite side, for when there are walkers storming out. He nods to Glenn, who then opens the door.

My dad peeks his head around the corner, staring into the darkness. I watch over his shoulder. Without even turning his head, he pushes me back, as a warning. I hear Alexa snort amused, but I decide to ignore it. I see that Ash gives her a shove with his elbow, and I grin slightly. Alexa rolls with her eyes, and folds her arms.

Dad turns makes a sign to Glenn and Ash to follow him. With guns pulled forward, they go in. Dad first, Glenn second, Ash third. Like leaving the two of alone is a good idea.

Alexa sighs, and leans with her shoulder against the wall. I turn my back on her, annoyed by….just by her presence. I tried to be nice to her. I thought I had finally found someone of my age whom I could talk to. We started of pretty good, but suddenly, she started raging like some psycho.

"Shit!" I hear from inside the small store, and a loud thud. I turn around, and Alexa and I look at each other with widened eyes. It only lasts a second, before we both run into the small store. We struggle to squeeze through side by side, but basically run together into the darkness.

"Ash?!" Alexa calls with panic in her voice. We hear some rumbling, and then my dad appears.

"It's fine, Alexa" he says, but she ignores him and walks past him.

"I wasn't talking to you" she sneers softly, running towards Ash, who stumbles on his feet. "What happened?"

"Nothing" he says, wiping some dust of his shoulders. Glenn appears next to him, with the same dust all over his face and hair.

"Doesn't look like nothing" Alexa says.

"There was a pile of bodies in one of the other rooms" Ash says, and I blink with my eyes. Wow. There hasn't been an adult who was so straight to the point to a teen. Not that I ever met.

"Oh, gross" Alexa says, as if we're talking about the ugliest boy in class. Again, I'm confused. She seems to take this pretty good.

I wish my dad was that honest with me.

"Let's get back to work" my dad says, pulling out his gun, and holding a small hammer in the other. The first is plan B, the other the thing we should use, just to spare the ammo for the other.

Ash nods, and points. "The store was the other side."

We make our way over there, my dad opening the door and walking through first. He quickly checks all the shelves, Glenn goes the other way around. They disappear for a little while, their heads under the remaining products.

Alexa stands next to Ash, and I at the other side of the guy. I keep watching them closely, hoping they won't try anything. I know how Alexa feels about us, but I don't know if Ash feels the same way.

Glenn's head pops up from somewhere in the back. "All clear. Let's get the bags."

"I'll get them" Ash says, and before he turns around, he eyes Alexa. "Don't do anything stupid, 'kay?"

"Sure" she says, with a faked smile. I roll with my eyes. Man, she's such a bad liar.

Alexa keeps her head up, and walks away from me, towards some shelves that look like they still have some cans left.

I watch her, every move she makes. If she tries anything-

"Hey" my dad suddenly says, nodding to me. He stands some shelves away from me, asking me to come over there.

"What?" I ask when I get there. He pushes me some boxes in the arms.

"Hold this. It's for Judy."

I look at the products. Baby formula. I frown.

"I thought we were here for them…?"

My dad looks up. "We could always stash some more, can't we?"

He goes back to grabbing more of those boxes, putting them on the ground. I stand on my toes, seeking for Alexa. I look around the store, but I can't find the dark brown hair anywhere. I blink with my eyes. Shit, did I lose her?

Her head appears just above some girl magazines, her eyes reading the cover. I sigh of relief. Still pretending to be innocent, huh? We'll see about that.

"Could you stop spying on her?" my dad whispers.

"W-what?" I stutter. "I'm not….I just….we can't trust them!"

Dad slightly grins, and nods. The kind of nod that says 'whatever you say'.

"I've had a talk with Ash about this" he says. "We're cool, for now. They won't stay for long. Just for about a week, then they'll move on."

"Why are they even at the prison?" I ask, keeping my voice low. From the corner of my eye, I see Alexa look up suspiciously. She narrows her eyes at me.

My dad stops with what he's doing, thinking about how to explain this to me. If it even is explainable.

"I've been thinking about the group, and our home at the prison. I've talked with Hershel, and we think it's time to start letting people in. We can't keep going on the way we do now. We need more people. We have to think about the future."

"You mean you want to build an army to fight against the Governor?" I ask, and my dad sighs. He shakes his head.

"No, not at all. I'm not like him. I don't want to recruit or force anyone into our problems. I just think that the time of surviving on our own is over. We need to think about civilisation, and such."

I look at Alexa again, who's now standing in front of a shelf for chips. "So…this is kinda an experiment?"

Dad chuckles slightly. "You could say that."

We hear footsteps, and all turn around towards the entrance and exit of the store. We stay low, arming ourselves, ready for a fight. My dad has a hand on my back, as if that will protect me. I have my finger on the trigger, aiming for the door.

It opens slowly, revealing one figure. It's a tall person, stumbling a little. We don't hear any growling, or moaning, but you never now.

When the figure turns his face to us, we lower our weapons. It's Ash.

"Little help?" he says, holding all the bags and boxes we had in the trunk of the car. Alexa quickly jumps up and sprints to help her friend. She takes some of the burden, and puts it on the ground.

"Thanks, kiddo" Ash grins, ruffing Alexa's hair. She grunts annoyed, trying to make it flat again with her hands.

"Don't do that!"

I take one of the boxes with me, and put the formula for Judy in there. Making a quick calculation of what she eats/drinks nowadays, we'll have enough for at least three months. Considering Alexa doesn't eat baby formula.

I smirk to myself, and head back to my dad. We keep packing things in, only the sound of cans and paper in the small store. Sometimes, someone coughs from the dust flying up from the products, but it keeps silent.

Ash stays at the door, keeping an eye out for people. The dead and the living. Even though we drove a little further than usual, the treat called the Governor is still out there.

"Ash?" Alexa suddenly calls. Even though she called her friend, we all look up, because she sounds terrified.

"What is it?" Ash asks worried, immediately walking over to her. Alexa stands in the doorway of the back of the store. It's some kind of office. Ash stands next to her, and coughs.

"What is it?" Glenn asks, with a knife in his hand. He looks over Ash's shoulder. I want to go look too, but dad blocks me with laying a hand on my chest. I angrily push it away, and walk further, before he can do anything else.

I look over Alexa's shoulder, who is shorter than me. I widen my eyes at the weird scene.

First, the office looks like a normal one. There's a desk, a huge chair, some drawers with files, and a computer. Then, when you get closer, you notice the creepy thing about it.

On the wall behind the chair, written in blood, there's a message ; "Death is upon us." There are flies zooming around it, and also around the body of the man sitting in the chair. His head has been removed, blood all over his fancy suit. His arms have been carefully put on the sides of the chair, and his neck hangs a bit forward. The head that used to be attached to it, is nowhere to be seen.

There's a paper on the desk, with something written on it with a pencil. There are bloody fingerprints on them, and it looks like the paper's been wet, like the writer was crying while writing.

My dad walks towards it and quickly reads it.

"What does it say?" Ash asks. My dad swallows a lump down his throat, as if it's a hard thing to tell.

"Dearest Deborah, Kevin is way ahead of you. See you in hell. Philip."

In other times, I probably would have laughed about the word joke. Now, I just tried not to throw up.

My dad crumples the paper in his hand, and leaves the office. He closes the door behind him.

"Get all the things. We're done here."

I'm about to walk back to the formula, when I hear a loud sound. A repeating, high tone. Almost like an alarm clock.

"Shit! The car!" Glenn says, looking at my dad. I see him think quickly. We don't know what's out there. People, or walkers. We don't know how many of either of them there are.

"Is there another way out?" Alexa asks, surprisingly calm. The alarm keeps going on and on, really getting on my nerves. "There must be another."

"Ash, come with me" my dad says, "Glenn, stay with them. Go back to where we found the bodies. I saw an emergency exit there. Get the kids out, and circle back to the car."

Glenn nods, and looks at me. Often, the group looks at me like I'm still a kid, even though I'm more of an adult than, for example, Beth. Now, Glenn looks at me like a partner. We're in this together and we'll make it out together.

My dad and Ash make their way to the front, facing whatever is there. I look at Alexa, who's face is very pale. She feels in the pocket of her jeans, revealing a small hunting knife only she knows of. She looks at Glenn and me.

"Let's go."

Glenn leads us to the room where the bodies are. As soon as he opens it, there's one hell of a smell coming from it. It's the dressing room for the employees. There are bodies all over the place, piled up. I spot two of them who are wearing a uniform.

I cough, and blink with my eyes, fighting back tears. Not because I'm so sad, of course.

"Through here" Glenn says, stepping over a couple of bodies. The emergency exit is a big metal door with a rod at it, which you need to push down. Glenn looks at me. "Ready?"

We hear a gunshot coming from outside, and Alexa looks over her shoulder. Her breathing fastens, and she takes a step back. In a reflection, I grab her arm. She looks at me with widened eyes full of fear.

"Do what you're told" I say to her. "You'll only make things worse if you go after them."

Alexa frees her arm, and looks to where another gunshot is coming from. Her blue eyes don't seem to be in this world right now.

Glenn looks at me, and I nod. He opens the door, and I give him cover when the first walker suddenly appears. Glenn kicks the body away, and sprints outside. I want to follow him, but notice Alexa is still standing there.

"C'mon!" I say annoyed, grabbing her arm again and dragging her along with me. Outside, there is chaos. There's a huge herd of walkers surrounding the small store. How did they get here so fast?

"Alexa?!" Ash shouts, and Alexa looks up.

"Ash! Ash!"

She looks around with panic, but she lets herself being dragged by me. I just run through the herd, trying to be too fast for the rotten arms to grab me. I don't always succeed, but when one of the gets to close, I aim for the head.

"Glenn?!" I shout.

"Over here!" my friend shouts from somewhere. But where?

I storm through, with in the one hand my gun, and in the other Alexa's hand. Without noticing, hers ended up in mine. She has her fingers clanged to my hand, not letting go. And I know I won't let go. Even though we don't like each other very much, we wouldn't want either of us to end up being eaten alive.

The herd keeps on coming, and after a while I know that this isn't one like I've dealt with before. We didn't make any sound that could've attract them. Yeah, maybe Ash shouting 'Shit!' but you need at least one gunshot to call so many of them. No, someone lead them to here. I know it. I don't know how, but he or she did it.

I also know that my luck won't last for a while. I might still be able to duck under all the arms for some time, but one of them will catch me. And then we're both dead.

All the walkers are mostly focused on the gunshots close to the car, at the other side of the store. Glenn is nowhere to be seen, neither are my dad nor Ash. We've made it to the road, our feet running over the asphalt.

I feel a slight pain in my chest from the running, but I know I can't give up now. I fight for oxygen, but I feel my legs getting tired.

Suddenly, Alexa passes me. She's quicker than me. The rolls have turned, and now she's the one dragging me with her. Like she's done this thousands of times before, she ducks and avoids all the rotten arms flying through the air, not a single one of them getting a hold of her. I stumble behind her, having trouble standing on my feet.

Then, as if we made it to the border, the herd stops. At least, the one in front of the store. But we still can't stop running, because they're now going after us.

"C'mon, keep going!" Alexa shouts over her shoulder. I cough and fight for air, keeping all the strength in my hand. Alexa keeps running and running, the walkers still after us. She doesn't look back for a second. She knows that if she goes back, she'll only make it worse.

I know I don't want to look back either. I don't want to know what's happening to my dad right now.

I do glance a little, and I am shocked of the amount of followers we have. With all the strength I have, I lift my arm, and aim, and shoot. The first walker falls to the ground, others tripping over the corpse.

Alexa looks over her shoulder, and grins. "Keep doing that! Try to slow them down."

We're still out in the open, the walkers following us in a straight line. There is nothing but forest around us, and that seems to give Alexa an idea.

All of the sudden, she makes a turn to the right, dragging me along in a sharp curve.

"Are…you in-….insane?" I pant. Alexa just keeps running, pushing branches aside and jumping over rocks.

"We move faster in here" she shouts over her shoulder. "I know what I'm doing."

I look over my shoulder, and see that the walkers are indeed slowed down my the branches we pushed aside being swung back, right into their faces. Some of them also trip over fallen trees and rocks we easily jump over. Well, Alexa does. It happens more than once that I also trip. Alexa quickly helps me up, not ever letting go of my hand.

She looks up to the trees, and I have no idea what she's doing. The moaning and growling is everywhere. How was this a good idea again?

Alexa suddenly stops in front of one tree with a thick low branch. She lets go of my hand, and makes a bowl-alike form of them. "Jump up!"

Hyperventilating, I put my foot on her hands and reach for the low branch. The walkers are coming closer, and in the main time, the gun shots from the store have stopped. Which is not a good sign.

I pull myself up, and I'm sitting a little above the ground.

I hunch down, extending my arm to Alexa. She puts one foot on the trunk of the tree, and grabs my arm. She pulls herself up, and is almost up when a rotten arm grabs her foot.

It pulls her down, the walker pulling her foot towards his mouth. I clamp my legs around the branch I'm sitting on, feeling the weight pulling my down.

Alexa tries to kick the walker away with her other foot, the other undead nearing fast.

Still fighting of air, and all the muscles in my body about to give up, I try to pull Alexa up.

There's this plopping sound, and the walkers is launched back, holding Alexa's boot in his hand. Alexa quickly puts a hand around the same branch I'm sitting on, and pulls herself up. The other walkers of the herd have found their way to us.

"C'mon, we have to climb higher!" she says, and she pulls herself up, higher into the tree. I lean with my back against the trunk, about to pass out. The world is spinning around me in a green flash. The moaning and growling under me is nothing but an echo in my head.

"Carl! Carl!" Alexa shouts from far away. I blink with my eyes, seeing dark spots dancing in front of my eyes. As in a dream, I lift my arm upwards with the last strength in my body. My lungs are burning and my muscles freezing.

For a moment, I feel like I'm flying through the air. Or maybe I'm falling. I don't know what's up or what's down.

I suddenly feel two hands being put over my nose and mouth. I try to open my eyes, but the lids are too heavy. There's no strength left in my body to react, but all I'm thinking is that somebody is trying to choke me. I feel like I can't do anything about it. I try to breathe, trying to fight it. But the opposite happens. I'm not choking. I'm not dying. In fact, I'm starting to breathe easier. Like my airways have been opened up.

I can open my eyes again, and look into two blue focused ones. Alexa holds her hands over my mouth and nose. Her lips are moving, like she's talking to me. My eyes close again, and open. I try to listen, to hear. It's like I'm wearing a huge headphone.

"….to the mouth. Into the nose….good." Alexa smiles slightly, and nods encouraging. The noise of walkers growling is overwhelming, and I blink my eyes. Alexa removes her hands. "You OK?"

"Yeah…." I say, taking a deep breath. "Thanks."

"You're not really a sportsman, are you?"

I look straight at her, and for the first time we can actually look at each other without one rolling the eyes or smirking. "I'm more of the shooting, thank you."

Alexa smiles, and looks down. "C'mon, let's get up higher. If they can't see us anymore, they'll go away after a while."

"Really?" I ask, lifting my eyebrow. Alexa stands up.

"Trust me, I've done this before. They'll get distracted by something else, like other people or a squirrel or something. They'll forget about us after an hour or three."

"Three hours?!"

"Not so loud, idiot!" she sneers, already climbing onto the next branch. She climbs higher and higher, like it's a ladder. "Yeah, maybe shorter, maybe longer. But they'll go away eventually."

She offers her hand to me, to help me go up. I stand up, trying not to pass out again, and pull myself up with her help.

We go up higher and higher, the sound of the walkers dying out to just a little background noise. Finally, Alexa sits down, and I can lean with my back against the trunk, catching my breath.

"Don't look down" Alexa says, and I glance at her. She's not joking. In fact, she looks very serious. She stands up, trying to look over the other trees. We're not that far in the forest. The road is close, and the store too. Alexa looks sad when she sits down again. "This is all my fault."

I frown, and suddenly thinking about what I thought earlier. Did she…? No. That's not possible. How could she lead all those walkers…

"What did you do?" I ask, and Alexa looks up, confused.

"Nothing. That's the point. I hesitated, and because of that we're stuck here."

I sigh of relief, which makes her even more confused. So she didn't bring them here. "That's OK. We all have those moments."

Alexa narrows her eyes, knowing that there is more. But she doesn't say it. "I guess so."


	7. Chapter 6: Giving Up

**Really sorry for not uploading on the day I said I would. (got some angry reviews, which were flattering in some way. You really want to know how it continues, which makes me happy :))  
**

**At the moment, my life's just a little busy; school, work, sport, family...love. Busy, busy, busy.**

**This chapter, we'll be seeing Ash interacting with some other characters. Hope you like it!**

**(Disclaimer; I do not own The Walking Dead)**

**Enjoy! ;)**

_Chapter 6: Giving up_

"Stop the car, damnit!" I shout at Rick. The man doesn't listen to me, and only pumps the gas paddle even harder. When I look through the back of the car, the overrun store is nowhere to be seen. We've lost them.

"Rick, turn around!" I say again, hunching forward. The engine makes even more noise, as Rick tries the Fast and the Furious approach. I grab his arm, hoping I'll get his attention now. "Rick, are you nuts?! The kids are still out there!"

Glenn also looks confused at his friend. He sits in the passenger's seat, covered in blood and with the only weapons he managed to save from the herd attack.

"Rick?!" I call again. Still no answer. I pull myself further, almost leaning over his lap. "Listen to me! Your son is still there! We have to go back!"

Rick then looks at me, with cloudy eyes. "No! There's nothing to go back to! I lost him! We can't go back…"

My jaw drops in confusion. What the hell is going on with him?

I look at the road again, and know that if we don't turn back now, they indeed are lost. In an instinct, I grab the wheel with both my hands. Rick, caught by surprise, tries to keep control with all the strength he's got. The car makes weird swings and curves, making weird patterns over the road. Glenn tries to pull me away, but I'm too strong for him. Rick and I struggle over the wheel, both of us being tossed around through the car.

Then, without any warning, Rick lets go of the wheel. I'm basically thrown to the other side, along with the wheel in my hands. The car makes a sharp turn, almost rolling over. But Rick doesn't pump the gas pedal, and the front bumps with an enormous smash against the trunk of a tree.

I almost fly through the front window, but the airbag catches me, and I'm squeezed into both the chairs with both Rick and Glenn.

For a second, we all take a deep breath. Then, the cursing begins.

"Son of a bitch" Rick starts, his hand going to his belt and grabbing a knife. With one swing, he puts it inside the huge airbag, and makes a huge cut. With a soft breeze, all the air is being led out, and I get more space to breathe.

Rick opens the door, and throws me outside. I fall on my knees, and when I try to stand up, I feel that a gun is put against my head.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he questions angrily. I look up at him, past the barrel of the gun.

"I can ask you the same thing!" I say, standing up. "Your son is back there. How can you just leave him like that?!"

"Shut up!" Rick says, putting his finger around the trigger.

"Whoa, whoa" Glenn says, coming to stand between us with his hands held up in the air. "Let's not do this, OK? We attract walkers with all that shouting."

Rick looks at his friend, and narrows his eyes at me, before lowering the gun. I walk past the guy, intentionally bumping my shoulder against his.

I open the trunk of the car, and get all that is left of my stuff.

"What are you doing?" Glenn asks. I put my backpack around my shoulder.

"I'm going back. I'm not leaving her."

Glenn looks over his shoulder to his friend, who's leaning with one hand against a tree, his head bowed. "Maybe you should wait. We can't go back, not the three of us. We don't have enough ammo, or weapons, or energy to-"

"I don't care" I interrupt him. "I'd rather die than to leave Alexa to be eaten alive."

Glenn sighs and nods. "I know. I know that's how you feel, but she won't end up like that. I saw Carl and Alexa run into the woods. They were pretty fast, maybe they managed to keep ahead of the walkers."

I widen my eyes, and almost drop my gun. Rick now looks up too. "You saw them? Going into the woods?! That's….the best thing that could happen to them!"

Rick chuckles without humour. "How's that a good thing? No place to hide, walkers around every tree, even people."

"Maybe Carl won't survive" I start, and Rick lifts an eyebrow, offended. "No offence. I just mean that he wouldn't survive alone. But he isn't alone. If he stays with Alexa, he'll survive. Trust me. Alexa knows the forests. She's been living in them from the very beginning when I found her. She'll know what to do."

Rick fully turns around, looking me in the eyes. "You think they'll survive?"

"I know it" I nod confidently. Rick looks at Glenn, and then at the wrecked car. Small strokes of smoke are coming from under the front.

"OK, this is what we'll do; we go back to the prison, get a search party together, and find a way through the woods back to the shop. From there, we could find a trail or something."

I nod approvingly. "Yeah, with more people we can cover more ground. If Alexa just waits it out…"

Which she probably won't. I don't say that, I just think it. I know Alexa. She's not the type of girl to just wait to be rescued. She'll find a way out herself. And gets herself in danger.

If she just finds a way back to the prison…

"OK, let's get the stuff" Glenn interrupts my thoughts.

"How far to the prison?" I ask. I look up at the sky. The sun tells me it's just past noon or so.

"A couple miles" Rick says. "I think we'll be there in about two hours, if we walk in a decent pace."

I swallow. Two hours? I start to doubt the plan of first going back to the prison. Everything could happen in the main time. But then again; just the three of us can't handle the enormous herd back there. Alexa and Carl seem to be saver by just the two of them, instead of us big guys shouting and stumping around like giants.

After we grabbed all the necessary stuff, which mostly is medical supplies and baby formula, we start our trip back to the prison. Now it's only hoping that someone won't raid the car. The plan is to come back later to get the canned food.

Rick walks, as he suggested earlier, in a decent, but hasty, pace. Glenn follows, with me closing the line. Glenn often looks over his shoulder, worried. Not that he doesn't trust me. It's not like I'll be running back to the store and save the kids by myself. Glenn actually looks worried, as if he thinks I'm sick.

Well, I'm not. Maybe mentally. Or in my heart, which is full of worries. Alexa is the only person in this world I truly care about. I've done that from the start.

When I found that little girl, hidden in a wardrobe, with her knees up her chest, and her whole tiny body rolled up in a small ball, I knew that I would do anything to protect her from the mess that the world had become. I still think that. I've seen Alexa grow up, from a chubby, little overweight girl, to a strong and muscled runner, jumping over and climbing in trees, teasing animals and her friends. She had gone through so much already.

Two people, whom I believed were her parents, had turned and were about to smash through the door of the wardrobe. I could hear them from outside. Me, Leighton and Mark were walking past the house, and heard them banging through the wood. Leighton and Mark didn't bother to check and risk getting bit, but something told me that I should go inside. I told them to wait here, that there might be people inside. They shrugged and waited, while I went in there. They both looked stunned when I came back with a scared little girl in my arms.

They always liked Alexa. The teasing girl who liked to prank every living thing had taken a place in their hearts. Until they started to walk the darker paths, and I didn't know who to trust anymore. It felt like someone just switched the button one day. I didn't see my colleagues in them anymore. I was planning on leaving, with Alexa, knowing that she would be saver with just me, instead of having those two around. But I was scared that they might come after us. I even considered ending it all, and I would tell Alexa that it was an accident. Then Rick came along, and I think I can say that I saw the light. Maybe being around this people would be better than surviving on our own, going from place to place. Being around others would be good for her, and having a home will make her a stable, independent woman. And someday, I'll tell her the truth about Leighton and Mark.

"Hey" a voice suddenly pulls me back to reality. I blink with my eyes, and see that Glenn has taken a step back, so that he's now walking beside me. "You OK?"

I clear my throat. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking."

Glenn nods, as if he understands. "I could relate."

"I can't imagine what he's going through right now" I say, pointing at Rick. Glenn bows his head.

"Yeah, they've been through a lot together" he says. "They've lost a lot. You've seen what Rick was like back in the car. He had already given up. It might not seem like it, but you've kinda given him hope. Hope that Carl is still alive."

I watch Rick for some time. He looks like a man who's determined on finding his son. And that's exactly what the plan is.

"Carl's mom….she's not back at the prison, is she?" I ask, and see Glenn lift his head. He takes a deep breath.

"No. Not anymore. She was pregnant when we got there. She….she didn't survive the labour. Carl had to…"

Glenn's voice is trembling too much to finish his sentence, but I already know what he was going to say. I bow my head in respect, but also in horror.

"That's…awful. No kid should have to do that." I picture Carl's face in my head, but I only see a kid with blue eyes and a sheriff hat. It's just a boy. But something in his eyes tells me different. There's this maturity in them. As if the things that he has seen only made him realize he need to grow up.

It makes me sad. I'm in my twenties, and sometimes still behave like a kid Carl's age. I like to fool around, and often just don't think as a grown up should do. But I too had to grow up fast as a kid. My dad died when I was fourteen, and I had a little sister and a mom who got really depressed. I had to do the groceries, cooking, taking my sister to school, laundry, and even considered finding a job. But my neighbour called Child Protective Services.

"The baby…he's at the prison. I saw him" I say, reminding of when I got to the courtyard. Glenn smirks.

"It's a she. Her name's Judith."

I chuckle. "Oh, sorry. She, then."

Glenn nods, and for a while, we just keep walking in silence. Rick keeps the pace up, and we just follow. The sun is making his way to the West, time slowly passing by as we keep walking. We don't stop, not even to eat, drink, or take a piss. We know that every second counts. The sooner we get back out there again, the quicker we can find Alexa. And Carl too, of course.

I notice that the trees are standing a little closer to each other, and the road is getting smaller. We must be nearing the prison, finally.

I look at Glenn, who has a serious expression on his face. I suddenly wonder what he used to do before all this.

"This might sound like an invasion of your privacy, but…what was your life before all this happened?"

Glenn blinks with his eyes, surprised by the question after a long silence.

"Well, nothing special" he mumbles. "I was a pizza delivery boy. I lived in Macon, the rest of my family in Atlanta. I went back when shit hid the van, but…I was too late. I met T-dog instead. He is…was, a good friend of ours. He died not so long ago. He was awesome."

I bite my lip. Maybe I shouldn't have asked it, because the answer was really sad. It started of nice, but ended in a sad history.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I've been through some shit too. I lost track of my little sister, and just took off with two of my colleagues from work. We came across Alexa and took her in. That's about it."

Glenn looks at Rick, who's walking even faster than before, knowing that we'll get to the prison any time soon.

"He used to be a sheriff" he nods, "lived in a small town with his wife and son, but he got shot before all this happened. He woke up when dead people were already walking around for over a month. He missed the worst, but went through just as much as any of us."

I look up again at Rick, with another view of the man. I can tell that he used to be a man of justice, saving people. Now, in this hardened world, he tried to save everyone and lead these people. If you have that weight on your shoulders, I can understand that giving up is tempting. But he doesn't give up, and I respect that.

Finally, the towers of the prison pop up above the trees. Walkers curiously turn their heads as we near the gates, but are not fast enough to grab us. We walk onto the courtyard, where Daryl and the short haired woman I forgot the name of close the gate.

"What happened? Where's Carl?" the woman immediately asks. She quickly apologizes for not mentioning Alexa, but I wave it off. We don't have time for excuses.

Rick quickly explains what went down earlier, and Daryl nods at the end of his story. "OK. I'll get my stuff and we'll go."

"I'm coming too" the woman insists. Rick opens his mouth to protest, but she shuts him down. "No arguing. I'm helping finding the kids, if you like it or not."

We quickly take the supplies we brought inside, and get more ammo and weapons. I quickly put some more bullets for my shotgun in my pockets, and grab an army jacket with a lot of small pockets on the chest and around the waist. I must look like a complete fight robot, but I don't care.

The five of us quickly go outside again. A little voice inside my head asks; "Why do you think five people can cover more ground than three?"

"Because Rick mentioned something about Daryl being a hunter, and knowing stuff about footprints" I say back. Not out loud, of course.

My bleeding feet inside my shoes are cheering of happiness when we step inside a truck. Rick sits down behind the wheel, and glances at me through the rear view mirror, before starting the engine. I hold up my hands in the air.

"I'm not touching anything."

Daryl lifts an eyebrow. "What's he talkin' 'bout?"

"Long story" Glenn sighs. We drive away from the prison, and I hate to see that the long walk just rushes by in 30 minutes. Well, not the whole walk. We stop a little further from the store, at a point where the map says is just about a mile from the store we raided. There is only forest between us and the road, so Alexa must be here somewhere.

Daryl is the one taking the lead, him searching over the ground. If they made it this far already. Which is a slight chance.

Rick follows him closely, and Glenn is next. The grey haired woman and I close the line. Before I go after Glenn, she offers me her hand.

"Carol" she says, and I assume that's her name. I take her hand and shake it.

"Ash. Nice to meet you." That's that. I follow Glenn and the others, not really into a conversation right now. Carol follows me, and we all follow Daryl, the master tracker and hunter.

For some time, we keep walking. But then Daryl stops. Rick immediately straightens his back and grabs his gun.

"What is it?"

"Nothin'" Daryl mumbles, looking around. There is trees everywhere, nothing special to be seen. We haven't come across any walker. "But I think we need to split up."

"Split up…?" Rick says. He sighs, and turns around. "OK, me and Glenn, Carol and Ash. That good?"

"Enough for me" Daryl says. "We just make one horizontal line across, OK? The forest is too wide to just walk as one. Look around for anything that looks like blood, a weapon, broken branches, or maybe even a footprint. If anything looks unusual…well, you know the drill."

I frown at the last part. They know the drill? As if they've done this before…? Glenn and Rick make their way to the left, and Daryl follows them, but starts walking to the front after a while, and a lot of the ground is now covered by our search party.

"C'mon" Carol says to me, and I notice a weird expression on her face. Determined, but also hurt. She's probably worried about Carl. And I feel sorry for her.

"We'll find them" I assure her after a while. She glances over her shoulder, with a grateful smile.

"I hope so."

"Now, that doesn't sound like it" I say, trying to sound nice. But honestly, she's bringing my motivation down too, acting like this.

She smiles. "I'm sorry. Not very enthusiastic, huh?"

I shrug. "We're all going through the same thing. I guess."

Carol stops walking, and kneels down for a sec, as if she notices something on the ground. I look over her shoulder. She digs with her fingers through the dirt, and shakes her head. Then she stands up. "It was nothing."

We walk further for a while, but then I feel like I need to ask her something.

"You look like you've done this before" I say, not really a question.

"Well, that's correct" she says, with a sad sigh. "It's not the first time we lost children in the woods."

She bites her lip, and I feel like I shouldn't ask for more.

I look around the area, scanning for anything unusual. I narrow my eyes, when I notice a broken branch, at the height of where Alexa's head should be. I walk towards it, and feel cold when I see blood on the leafs.

"You found something?" Carol asks. I clear my throat.

"I think so" I say, and I show her the leaf. She shuts her mouth, and nods.

"That doesn't have to mean anything. Let's see if it continues."

We walk further, and just after a short time, we find another bloody branch. Next, we find some drops of the red substance on the ground. Carol kneels down in front of it, and feels it with her fingers.

"It's cold, but still liquefied" she concludes. "Must've been not long ago."

We follow the trail further, and with each step, I feel more sick. I'm afraid for what we might find. I was so confident about Alexa's chances of survival, but I don't know anything anymore.

The trees are getting longer shadows, which means that it's getting later and later. What if we don't find them before dark? They have to sleep out here, without supplies, only each other.

I follow Carol, who looks like she knows what she's doing. I just hope we don't find anything.

The ground suddenly goes up to a hill, and we have to jog up there. On top, we have a nice few of a small dal with a river. At the sides, there's a little beach, with grey looking sand. The water is streaming fast, scraping stones into round shapes.

When I follow the small banks with my eyes, I find the source of the blood. I whistle to Carol, who stands a little away from me. I point down.

There are two dead walkers laying there. They don't have bullet holes in their skulls, or the cut of a knife. Someone had to break the brains by kicking the skull in with his boot. It looks disgusting, but I know I have to take a closer look.

I make my way down, and kneel on the ground next to the corpses. I quickly inspect the so called crime scene, and shake my head.

"The blood we saw didn't come from these" I say, more to myself than to Carol. "But I think that from whomever it was, has been here."

I look around again, hoping to find any signs of Alexa. There only are some small footsteps leading towards the two corpses, but not from them. As if she just disappeared after killing them.

If it was her.

"Let's go find Daryl" Carol says. "He knows more about this stuff."


	8. Chapter 7: Harold

**I sometimes wish I was a superwoman. Or at least a superhero. But guess what? I'm not. The past weeks, I've been in a rollercoaster of emotions, and finally feel like getting some rest last weekend. I hope I can upload more regularly now, by means on the day I want to. **

**I bet we've all seen the season 4 finale by now. I don't know about you guys, but I loved it! It was so awesome, and I loved the scene with Carl and Michonne, with Michonne telling him about her kid and all. Danai Gurira and Chandler Riggs are both awesome!**

**Now, let's get on with the story, right? I hope you guys find this story worth continuing!**

**(Disclaimer; I do not own The Walking Dead)**

**Enjoy! ;)**

_Chapter 7: Harold_

I jump down the last part, and turn around to help Carl get down too. He smirks at my extended hand, and jumps down himself.

"Suit yourself" I mumble, rolling my eyes. I take a look around, and stretch my back. We've been waiting all night for those walkers to finally find something worth waiting for. Luck seems to be on our side, because about half an hour ago, there was a loud gunshot not far away from here, which made them go there because those idiots are attracted to noise like bees to honey.

"So, what do we do now?" Carl says, a little too optimistic if you ask me. He plants his hands on his hips, and put his ridiculous hat a little further up his head.

"You do what you want, cowboy" I shrug. "I'm going this way. See yah."

"Wait, what?!" Carl says, startled. I keep on walking, not giving a damn about the sheriff's son. I can hear his loud footsteps running towards me. I swear, the ground is shacking, as if Bigfoot has finally come out in the open. If walkers didn't know better, they'd probably come running this way.

Carl comes to stand in front of me, so quick that I almost bump into him. I push him off me, feeling a little awkward.

"We're not splitting up!" Carl says clearly. I wipe some hair out of my face and chuckle.

"That's not what I said. I was just saying that we'll meet up somewhere later."

"That's not happening" he rejects, crossing his arms over his chest. "We need to stay together. The others are probably looking for us. If they only find one of us, they still need to look for the other. Besides; we have a better chance of survival together."

I turn my head a little. "Whatcha wanna do? Just sit here and wait, like a princes in a tower?"

"We can go look for them too, and maybe we'll find each other" Carl says, again with that nerdy glance on his face. I grunt of irritation. Why can't he just accept that I don't want to be stuck out here with _him_? It's been awkwardly enough, sitting in a tree the whole night, not able to interact, because we would draw to much attention.

My stomach makes a weird growl, and I feel really empty. I look at Carl, and decide that bragging on about this will make things only worse. It will only make me sit here alone with him, away from Ash. Poor Ash. He must be worried sick about me. This time, I don't find it funny.

"OK. We'll stay together. But before we go look for those good friends of yours; Imma need some breakfast. I'm starving."

There's a slight grin on Carl's face as he places a hand over his stomach. "Yeah, me too. Maybe we'll find a shed somewhere, or another one of those small shops."

I walk past Carl, annoyed by his stupidity. "Or we could do it hardcore, and just catch something ourselves instead of eating unhealthy canned food because it's easy."

Carl follows me, and I again annoy myself at his loud footsteps. If he keeps walking this way, I can forget about the breakfast, and start chewing on branches or something.

"How on earth would you want to do that, without any weapons?"

I roll with my eyes. "All we need is rope. I can make a small trap, and perhaps we can catch a rabbit or something."

"And you got rope?" Carl says sarcastically, but stops laughing when he sees the strong rope I hold in my hand, which hung at my belt the whole time. But of course, Carl's too stupid to look further than his nose.

"Impressive" he quickly recovers, and makes a tiny sprint, so that he walks next to me. Again. I swing the rope around myself, hoping to create some space between us. But he doesn't seem to care, and still walks a little too close to me than I'd like.

He steps over a branch with breaks with a loud crack under his shoe. I turn my head to look at him, but he doesn't care about the fact that his must've startled all the rabbits in the country.

"Could you keep it down with the feet?" I say through my teeth, really questioning why I'd let him come with me again. I try to tell myself that he'll bring me back to Ash, and that everything will be fine if we just stay together.

Carl looks at his feet, confused. He lifts his knee a little higher, and places his foot gently on the ground, as if he's walking on glass.

I put my hand over my mouth, trying not to laugh. He looks like an astronaut on the moon. As soon as Carl notices that I'm laughing at him, he grins. And that confuses me. The smile I had on my face quickly fades away. Is he…flirting with me? Does he think I'm…o my god.

I turn my head to the front, and fasten my pace, so there's a distance between us. I keep walking, not turning around.

"Hey" he suddenly says, and if I like it or not, my feet listen. I stop, but keep my back turned. "What are you doing?"

It's not like; "hey, haven't seen you in a long time. What are you doing at the moment?" It's more like a 'why are you walking away from me?' I don't really know what to answer. Am I running away from him?

"I'm finding breakfast" I reply, and bite my tongue soon after. Great answer.

"Not that" Carl points out something obvious. I can hear his loud footsteps again, and quickly turn around before he does something stupid. I try to keep a straight face, as he comes closer.

"Then what?" I ask as casual as possible.

"First, you hate me and try to kill me. Then, you save my ass and prevent me from chocking to death. We sit up there all night taking shifts. Next, you act like you don't care about what happened before, and treat me like I'm stupid. What is going on?"

I swallow. I'm a little overwhelmed by the words coming out of his mouth. They sound way better than the things he usually says, which always gives me the impression that he's the dumbest kid on the planet.

I blink with my eyes, and try to think of a decent response. I look at him, and think it through. He's the sheriff's kid. The same guy who killed two of my friends. Who brainwashed Ash in thinking that they are our new friends.

But Carl's also just a boy my age, who just happens to have an unfortunate family. But he can be a dick himself.

I narrow my eyes. "Well, I'm currently not trying to kill you. You've been lucky yesterday, for just holding on for so long. But I'm not saving your day again. If you keep waiting for others to come to the rescue, you might as well put a pistol in your mouth right away. You're lucky to have a big group of people who watch out for you. I only have Ash. I have to do more things myself, like you're supposed to."

Carl chuckles without humour. "Wow. You know how mean you sound?! You think you know all about this stuff, don't you? You think that because you didn't find the prison first, you're better than us."

"You killed people for guns" I say back, my voice louder than before, but I don't care. I've had enough of this. "How would you get them otherwise? You keep yourselves locked up in those cells, warm and comfy when needed. You've got cars, that can take you wherever you want to go. You can go out, get the shit you need and go back. Well, we didn't have that luxury! We were freezing during the winter! We lost a lot of people, because no one would take us in."

"You're not the only one who lost people!" Carl suddenly shouts, and his immature voice cracks a little, which kinda scares me. "You're not the only one with a sad back story! We've all had a rough time! You're not special, just because you went camping for 13 months!"

I'm so angry, that I can't find the words to say. I spit in his face instead. Yeah, that'll help. "Screw you!"

With that, I turn around, and run away from that bastard as fast as I can. I don't look over my shoulder, I just keep running. I'll find that prison myself, and tell that stupid Beard-guy I lost his stupid son because he was too stupid to listen to me.

I don't hear the loud footsteps coming after me. For the first time, he finally understands that I don't want him to follow me. I keep running and running. Thank god not for my life. I doing that once a week is exhausting enough.

After some time, I decide to spare some of my energy for the rest of the day. It's still pretty early, somewhere before noon. And I still haven't had my breakfast, thanks to Carl. Or C.A.R.L (Cunt Asshole Retard Loser)

I chuckle to myself. That's a fitting description. Even though I feel satisfied with leaving that Cunt behind, I also feel miserable. I had been mean again. I had promised myself to be a nice girl. Well, already failed after only one and a half day. My first approach was just trying to avoid him. That obviously didn't work and now we're stuck out here together.

In a calmer pace, I step over fallen trees and branches, enjoying the morning sun. It's nice to be out here instead of that ugly prison. I really felt like a prisoner, being in there. I missed the fresh air, and hated the stinky smell of sweat and metal everywhere. And the sound of walkers, ugh. Horrible. I can't understand why anyone would want to live there.

I wonder what Ash is doing right now. Is he looking for me, like Carl suggested? Or has he already given up on me and is digging a grave for when he finds my body? Did he even make it out? We saw the car turn around and drive off the parking lot, but what if something happened on their way back? What if the car broke down, or they drove right into a herd? What if they're all dead….?

"Stop it!" I say to myself, and instead of not thinking about Ash being dead, I stop walking. I make fists of my hands, and squeeze my nails into my palm. I shouldn't think like this. I should stay positive, and just believe he's still alive, out there, looking for me, waiting for me to come home.

Ash is the only person I have left in this stupid world. Everyone I once knew from my old life, the people I used to talk to, the people I went to school with; they're all gone. I didn't know Ash before it happened, but now that I do, I know I never want to lose him. I'm nothing without him. Maybe I have a good chance of survival on my own, but I wouldn't be able to hold it out mentally. I would go crazy after a while, and probably jump off a cliff or something.

He's like a big brother. Maybe even a dad. And a mom. He's my whole family.

While I'm standing there, I notice that's it's really quiet around me. It's kinda creepy. Especially when there are sudden footsteps nearing you.

I quickly hide behind a big tree, hoping the person didn't see me. I listen to the footsteps. It's a calm pace, like someone's taking a walk on a quiet Sunday. It's nothing like the Bigfoot-thing Carl did, or the astronaut-pace.

I move a little to the edge, and dare to take a peek. I immediately regret it, and crawl back. Theirs is one real creepy guy standing not far away from the tree. He looks normal at first sight; perfectly cut hair, washed face, clean clothes, good shoes and a gun at his belt. But when you take a closer look, you notice an eye patch covering about a half of his face. As if one eye isn't creepy enough.

I push my back as deep into the tree as I can, wishing I could somehow disappear into the trunk. I beg to any god I can remember the name of, hoping he didn't see me. He doesn't look friendly at all.

I suddenly think of Carl. Shit, man. I forgot about that little shit. What if that pirate got to him first? That blood is on my hands. And I feel more guilty about it than I would like.

Suddenly, creepy guy lets out a horrible chuckle. "Don't get me wrong, I like playing games. But I mostly like to play with people who are actually good at it. And really, little girl; you're the worst at hide and seek. Come on out, before you hurt yourself."

I bite my lip. What am I supposed to do? He has a fricking gun. I could never run away, he would shoot me. But turning myself in isn't the best plan either. With both choices, Carl will be dead anyway.

I decide to take another peek. He looks straight at me with his one eye, and has me caught in a stare. I can't move, terrified that he might do something unexpected. I look at his belt, at where his gun is. The guy follows my eyes, and laughs.

"Ah, I see. The gun, uh?" He lays a hand on it, and pulls it out. Instead of pointing it at me, he unloads the chamber. It falls into a bed of leafs. The man lifts one eyebrow at me, and throws the gun towards me. "That better?"

I narrow my eyes, and tiptoe the guy. It's too easy, he probably has another gun somewhere. I search over his jacket and his pants, but I can't find one. But I know there is.

Inside, I sigh. Seems like I don't really have a choice. I step from behind the tree, and fold my arms. I have no weapons, clearly. He doesn't even have to ask.

"Hi" the guy says, waving his hand like I'm an old friend. When I don't respond, he drops it. "What's a little girl like you doing out here alone?"

He tries to play nice and all, but I still don't trust him. He's not from around here. His clothes are all practically new, without a stain nor a scratch. His shoes are still clean, no dirt to be seen anywhere. He has a camp or something, not far away from here. Who knows what kind of man I'm looking at.

"I could ask you the same thing" I respond, and the man nods, as if he thinks I'm right.

"I was hoping you could help me with something" he says with a smile, and I blink with my eyes. Bad news, man. Bad news.

"See, I'm looking for a boy" he continues, and with only saying that, I have a nearly heart attack. So he hasn't gotten to Carl….yet. But he is looking for him. I don't know if that's worse or not. "He's about your age, little taller maybe, brown hair, blue eyes…mostly wears a sheriff hat."

"Haven't seen him" I casually answer, shrugging my shoulders and trying to play cool. "What about 'm?"

The guy smiles, as he takes a step towards me. "Nothing special, really. I just need to talk to him. There's some really important business that concerns us both."

"I see" I nod, not believing a word. "I'll look out for him, mister….?"

The man comes even closer, and extends his hand, as to shake. "Harold."

I slowly take his hand and shake it. "OK, mister Harold. I'll tell him you're looking for him….when I see him, of course. I doubt it. This forest is so big. The chance of us meeting is like finding a needle in a haystack."

Harold, or whatever he tries to be, lets go of my hand, and looks at me with his one eye. "I guess so. Maybe we'll meet again someday, little girl."

"Who knows" I say, gluing a smile on my face. All I want to do right now, is turn around and run as fast as I can. I need to find Carl, that stupid brat. This creepy guy is looking for him, and I bet that what he's planning on doing with Carl when he gets to him, isn't good.

With a last nod, 'Harold' kneels down to grab his gun from the ground, and walks back to get the chamber. Before really leaving, he waves. I just nod, keeping a straight face. I watch the man disappear, till I'm certain he won't be able to shoot me from that distance. Then, I start running.

I need to find Carl. I need to find him. Where would he go? He said he wanted to find the others, because they were looking for him somewhere in these forests. He would probably find a way to the road or something, and follow the car tracks. At least, I hope that it's what he would do.

I look up to the sun, trying to find the sun. I remember the road we took to the store came from the North.

"Comes up in the East, goes down in the West" I remember the phrase to myself. I remember saying to myself that it was just before noon and I hadn't eaten yet, and the sun isn't fully up the sky, which means the East is in that way, and the opposite the West.

I stand still, and extend my arms. Right is East, left is West. So I'm looking at West right now. Harold went East, which means the road is North.

I quickly turn around, and start running again. The ground under me is flashing by, a mix of green, red and brown. It's still warm, but autumn is already knocking at the door. Maybe I should've dressed more like the temperature, instead of the time of the year I think it is. Summer's almost over.

Which means the days are getting shorter. I'm losing the light, and the chance of finding Carl today is getting smaller.

"Shit, Carl, where are you?!" I say out loud, looking over my shoulder. I need to keep walking in the right direction, or I'll end up somewhere in the West instead of North.

I suddenly notice the atmosphere of the forest getting lighter. The trees are standing less close to each other, which means I'll be getting at the edge soon.

"C'mon, keep going" I say to myself, hoping to feel the asphalt under my shoes any time now. I keep going and going, and less branches are in my way.

I can see the road, and I'm about to encourage myself once more, when I step into something that disturbs me.

I immediately stop. There was a weird sound, as if I pulled my foot out the mud. I look at my shoe, and blink my eyes. There's blood on it. I touch it with the tip of my index finger, and look at it. It's still fresh.

"Shit….shit….Shit!" I say. I turn around, and look over the horizon. "Carl?! Carl! Where the hell are you?! Carl!"

I don't care if that Harold guy hears me or not. I have to find that stupid guy with the sheriff hat, before it's too late.

"C'mon, shit head! Where are you?!" I shout again, getting desperate. Maybe I'm too late. Maybe they found him. Maybe they killed him. And it's all my fault.

I run around in a big circle, mumbling to myself. I can't pronounce any decent words, only drabbles. I can't function, it seems. I can't do anything. I can't do anything. I'm just a hopeless little girl, who happened to be born in a universe with a shitty world full of dead people. I'm not made for this world. As hard as I try, is still fuck it up. Every damn time.

I kick my foot angrily against the trunk of a tree, grunting while I pull at my hair. It is then, when I hear a voice.

It's an echo, coming from far. But it's something. The first thing that tells me he is alive.

"Alexa!" he shouts, closer now. "Is that you?"

"Carl!" I say, throwing the ripped hairs on the ground. "Where are you?"

"I'm here! Follow my voice!"

I start running, not caring if it's East, West or anything other. I just trust my hearing, scanning the area for strange footsteps, and of course Carl himself.

Finally, I can see the silhouette of the guy with the sheriff hat. I start running even faster, stumbling on my feet. I feel so relieved , and I don't know why.

When Carl sees me, he's starts running too. It doesn't take us long before we reach each other. Before I know what I'm doing, I've fallen into his arms, and hide my face into his shoulder.

"Whoa, slow down!" Carl says with a chuckle. With a blush I let go of him, and take a step back.

"C'mon, we need to go" I quickly say, hoping it won't get awkward. "There's a guy out here looking for you. He must be really stupid for not hearing us."

"Wait, what?" Carl says confused. I grab his arm and start walking, checking the sun. North, right?

"Do I have to say it again?" I sneer, and I bite my lip soon after. How did I become so mean? "I'm sorry. I mean…I came across this weird guy with an eye patch, and he told me to keep an eye out for you. Said he needs to discuss something with you."

Carl stops walking, freeing his arm. I turn around, irritated, until I see his face. It's only horror I see.

"What? What is it?"

"That guy" he gasps. "That's the Governor."

I shake my head and grab his arm again. "He told me his name was Harold. Now, let's go."

"Wait, you have no idea who we're talking about" Carl tries, but I keep going.

"Who cares what his name is? All we need to think about right now, is getting home. That pirate can be around every tree right now. We just need to get to the road, and find a way home."

"You really think going out in the open is a good idea?" Carl chuckles, and I roll my eyes. Why didn't I kill him again?

"We're not going to walk on the road, we'll be walking aside it. Maybe your dad will be there, and we can take a lift back to the prison."

Carl frees his arm, and comes to walk next to me. "OK, sergeant."

I turn my head. "Seriously?"

"It suits you" Carl shrugs. He bumps his shoulder teasingly against mine.

"Stop it, man" I say, but I can't help to laugh a bit. "Just focus, OK? We need to get home."


	9. Chapter 8: Homefront

**Finally, an update on an actual Friday! I'm starting to sound like Pewds...**

**I had a guest review asking why I always say 'blink with eyes'. I laughed about it, but if it annoys you, I'll try to do it differently. (English isn't my native language :P)**

**I'm a little sick, so don't expect this to be the best chapter of the story...**

**(Disclaimer; I do not own The Walking Dead)**

**Enjoy! ;)**

_Chapter 8: Homefront_

We're walking next to each other, following the road, just like Alexa planned. I sometimes turn my head to look at her. Just a quick glance. She keeps her eyes on the front, face blank, acting like she doesn't notice. But she sometimes folds her hands into fists, so I know she knows.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a creepy pervert or anything. I'm just really confused. Alexa keeps confusing me, but last time I asked, we ended up shouting at each other, and we only happen to have more questions after. I may be a little afraid for the answer, but I know that I'm making her uncomfortable with my hesitation.

I clear my throat, and she looks up, a little relieved that I finally ask. Maybe she's afraid to start about it too.

"So…can I ask you something?"

A quick smile crosses her face. "As long as it's not about my anger issues…sure."

I clear my throat again, a little nervous. "Uh…why did you come back for me? I mean…you came to look for me, but you hate me-"

"I don't hate you!" she interrupts me with a sneer. I shut my mouth, and Alexa widens her eyes, as if she realises something. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'll try to keep it down."

I grin. It's pretty funny to see her try so hard to be nice.

"It's OK, I don't mind. It's the walkers I'm worried about. And…Harold, or whatever his name is."

"Yeah, you're right" she approves, with a careful smile. She quickly looks over her shoulder.

"But…why did you come back?" I ask again, trying to stay to the subject. Alexa bites her lip and blows air out of her nose.

"I don't know. I guess I didn't want you to die. Yet." She kicks a stone away from her foot. "If I really wanted you dead, I would've killed you myself."

I swallow a bitter taste down my throat, a little shocked by the answer. But when I think about it, it's actually quite positive. In a really weird way. She doesn't want me dead anymore, maybe she even starts to like me. I look at her again. OK, maybe 'liking' isn't the word.

"You never apologized for that" I say, and she frowns.

"Apologized for what?"

"For pushing me in the hands of a group of walkers….?"

"I don't see why-" She stops right there. She has raised her voice, and is now putting her hand over her mouth in shock. I chuckle.

"That's not funny!" she tries to be angry, but a smile is hiding in the corners of her lips.

"No, it's not funny at all" I say sarcastically, and she gives me a shove to the shoulder.

"Do you wanna know why or not?"

"Yeah, of course!"

"Well…" She then sighs. "Honestly; I don't think I should apologize yet. I mean, I was really mad at your dad and indirectly at you, and just you whole group. I thought your dad deserved the same thing that happened to me; lose somebody you care about."

I nod. "It sounds…reasonable. I mean…revenge does that."

"I'm not sorry, though" she shrugs, and I lift an eyebrow. "Really, I'm not. Don't you think you made a mistake too? You somehow managed to make me not like you instantly, and that's not because you're the son of the guy who killed my friends. It was just something that annoyed me about you."

"Wow…thanks for the honesty" I mumble sarcastically. Alexa looks at the ground, a little ashamed. And now it's awkward again.

We both say nothing for a while, lost in our own thoughts. I don't look at her anymore. All I do, is looking in front of me. The ground under my feet is getting harder, more like stone instead of dirt, which means we're almost home.

I see she notices too. Alexa digs her toe into the ground, looking at it while putting a strain of hair behind her ear. She avoids my eyes, but I can see hers are watery. Did I do something wrong?

Because I don't know what I have to do, I pretend I haven't seen the tears. Just keep walking, you're almost home.

Maybe it's not me. Maybe she's just lost in thoughts, or memories. I can relate to that.

I suddenly realize I don't know much about Alexa. I've known her for almost three days now, and it's taken me that long to really get curious who the this girl is.

She hasn't said a word about her family, except for her friends, and Ash doesn't seem to be a relative either. Is she an orphan? Does she have any siblings? What's her birthday? Where did she use to live? Where did she go to school? What's her favourite food? Band? TV-show? Book?

"We're close" she suddenly says, ripping me out of thoughts.

"Yeah, I know" I say. I see her wipe a tear out of the corner of her eye, and I look the other way. I just don't know what to do, OK?! This girl's been really mean to me, and now we're both walking home, and she's crying her eyes out over something and I don't know what.

I sigh, knowing I can't get us home with her being in this state. Think of what a man you know and what he would do in this situation….Hershel would give her a hug. But he's like a Santa-look-a-like. Everybody loves a hug from Santa. My dad would pat her shoulder, and walk away, doing something more important. Daryl would bow his head, and chew on a straw, looking the other way. Glenn would talk to her, like he talks to Maggie or Beth. He's got at that. Merle….well, let's not talk about him.

As you can see, I don't really have the best male-examples. Perhaps I should do a combo of The Hershel and The Glenn.

"Hey…" I say carefully, looking at her. Alexa blinks.

"What?"

"You OK?"

She shrugs. "I don't know. I just don't know."

"You wanna…sit down or something?" Gah, I'm bad at this. Alexa shakes her head and sniffs her nose.

"You wanna waste any more time?" she replies. She grunts. "Why do I keep doing that?"

"You're just…frustrated" I say. "I get it. I can be a dick sometimes too, even if I don't want to. Can't help it sometimes."

Alexa narrows her eyes. "Yeah….exactly."

We're already starting to hear the moans, and the fences peek through the trees. Almost home.

"You'll get past it" I shrug, feeling like we're finally able to have a normal conversation. "Takes a while, but you'll see."

"Thanks" she says.

I put my hands in the pockets of my jeans. "That's OK. You owe me."

We finally step away of the forest, into the direct sunset.

"Wow, what a day" Alexa sighs. She looks at the prison, the long shadows of the buildings falling on the grass. I see Carol walking around the gate with a machine gun around her shoulder. I can't help but to smile. Home. Never thought I'd be so happy to see this horrible place again.

"You ready?" I ask. Alexa lifts her eyebrows, and a little of her old sceptical self has returned.

"Of course, dumbass. I've not been walking all those hours to see the view."

"OK" I chuckle, and I start walking. With a little jump over the ditch, I land close to the fence. I turn around, thinking I can help Alexa, but before I can offer my hand, she's already standing next to me.

"What are you waiting for?" she asks, pretending to be annoyed, with a smile. I offer my arm to her, like a real gentlemen. She rolls with her eyes, but, surprisingly, takes it.

A walker is turning his head as we walk by, but Alexa kicks it in the stomach. We walk through to the next gate, where Carol widens her eyes, seeing the two missing kids walking up to her, covered in dirt and leafs.

"Carl…Alexa…" she gasps, running to the lock. More walkers are paying attention to us now, and I'm starting to worry. We're still in the middle, and we're drawing more and more attention to ourselves. If Carol doesn't open the gate now….

I look at her, and she looks back. "Care for a run?"

"Let's do this" she says, and we let go of each other. I grab my gun, even though it's not loaded. Always useful as melee, though.

Alexa grabs a knife from under her shirt. Did she have that the whole time….?!

Alexa stabs the first walker getting in her way, blood splashing on her arm. She pulls it back, jumps over the corpse, and sprints towards the gate.

I follow her, a little slower. I have to say; she's tough.

I slam my gun against the skull of one undead bastard, and kick another one out of my way.

"C'mon, man, what's taking so long?!" Alexa teases, shouting over her shoulder.

"Little busy over here" I reply, preventing a walker from grabbing my leg.

Carol finally opens the gate, and Alexa walks onto the courtyard. Carol grabs her machine gun as soon as she sees the walkers closing me in. She starts firing, making me a path, while Alexa is encouraging me by shouting really offensive things at me.

"C'mon, you pussy! Is that all you got, cowboy?!"

As I walk on the courtyard, she closes the gate. Alexa crosses her arms over her chest, and I narrow my eyes.

"Was that really necessary?"

She shrugs. "Probably not. Still fun."

Carol suddenly grabs me and takes me in a tight hug. The machine gun falls on the ground.

"Oh, honey!" Carol says into my neck. "Where have you been?"

I hear the door to the cellblocks open, and my dad, Daryl, Ash and Merle come storming out, armed and ready for a fight. The gunshot must've given them the wrong ideas about what is going on here.

My dad stops running as soon as he realizes who the two dirty kids are. He drops his gun, and stumbles towards me, as if he's dreaming. He takes my head in his hands, and looks me in the eyes. He then pulls me against his chest.

"Oh, man" he mumbles. "I thought I'd lost you."

"Alexa?!" Ash suddenly says. With an excited yelp, Alexa runs up to her friend. She jumps into his arms, and Ash swings her around the courtyard. It's nice to hear her laughter.

Ash puts her down on the ground again, and grabs her by the shoulders. "Don't you ever, ever do something like that again, you hear me? No more hide and seek. Seriously, you scared the shit out of me."

Alexa puts her hands on her hips. "What'd you think of me? You guys were the ones bailing on us."

Ash grins, a little embarrassed. Alexa hugs him once more, and mumbles something I can't hear.

My dad finally lets go of me, and I can breathe properly.

"C'mon," he says, "let's get you guys something to eat."

Only a few minutes later, we're sitting at one of the metal tables in the cellblock. Alexa sits at the opposite of me, with Ash next to her. She's eating her plate clean with small bites, as if she's afraid to eat too fast.

"If you keep eating this way, your food will start walking away from you" I joke, and Alexa rolls with her eyes.

"Old joke. You should refresh sometime, cowboy."

My dad comes walking back from the one of the cells, followed by Hershel. As I watch the old man hop over to my side, I remember myself to thank him later, for teaching me how to comfort someone. Especially if that someone is a girl. He unintentionally learned me a lot, and pretty much helped me out of the most awkward situation.

"Hershel's doing a little check on you guys" my dad explains, as Hershel sits down next to me. "Just a quick look for any scratches or wounds that need to be treated."

I see Alexa's face get pale, and she eyes Ash. He lays a hand on her shoulder and whispers something. Alexa sighs and nods, but she's still not comfortable.

Hershel quickly inspects my head, neck, arms and ankles. For scratches and ticks.

When he's finished, he gives me a pat on the back. "Looks good, son. Only one thing; wash yourself, would you?"

I grin, and the old man chuckles. He gives me my hat back, and makes his way over to Alexa. She suddenly looks like a scared little girl, instead of a mean and cynic one. Hershel smiles at her.

"Hello" he says, holding out his hand. "I don't think we've officially met. My name is Hershel Greene."

Alexa looks at the hand, confused. She hesitantly takes it. "I'm Alexa."

"Hi, Alexa. I understand this must be a little odd for you, but I have to take a quick look over your skin, just a little check-up. If that is OK with you?"

Alexa glances at Ash. "Sure. Go ahead."

Hershel does his little routine, but hesitates when he comes to the shoulders. He takes a closer look and narrows his eyes. Ash sits up. "What is it?"

"Did I get bit? Am I going to die?" Alexa asks, squeezing her hands together. Hershel shakes his head, but doesn't understand Alexa can't see that.

"I found a tick, nothing to worry about. We just need to take it out, and you'll be fine."

"OK, cool" Alexa says, sighing relieved. Hershel stands up.

"Aren't you gonna ask if it will hurt?"

Alexa shrugs. "Not really interested. Couldn't be much worse than taking an arrow to the waste."

I widen my eyes. "You did what?"

"OK, let's not talk about this now" Ash says with a low voice. He looks worried, and the subject of Alexa almost dying isn't helping. But Alexa likes to tell me all about it.

"We once had a confrontation with some gang who fought with sticks and arrows. It kinda got outta hand, and we had to run. But I got shot, and we had to find a place to hide, and then we met this doctor, and everything turned out just fine."

"Yeah, you were lucky" Ash sighs, ruffing her hair. Alexa tries to flatten it again, even though it's already been through the woods. Here and there a leaf sticks between the brown hair.

My dad sits down next to me, and looks around. "So, let's talk about what happened. How did you guys manage to survive?"

I look at Alexa, who's continuing her meal as if nothing's happening. So I guess it's up to me.

"Well, first we found a tree to hide in, but the walkers were on to us, so we couldn't climb down for a long time. We waited all night, and just before morning, there were gunshots and the walkers went away. We climbed down, and…..well….uh…"

I don't really know what to do. I haven't told my dad about the first conversation I had with Alexa, and I'm not sure if I should tell him now about what happened in the woods. Alexa puts down her spoon.

"Well, we had a little disagreement, and split our ways for some time" she says on a calm tone. "After a while, we found each other again, and decided that it was better for us to stay together and find our way to here."

"You shouldn't split up" Ash immediately says after. Alexa rests her chin on her hand.

"Yeah. I know."

I look at Alexa. She hasn't said a word about the Governor. Has she forgotten? Or doesn't she care? Does she want to? Should I say it?

I try to catch her eyes, but she's turned her attention to her porridge again. I try to pull off a little less subtle approach. Under the table, I kick my foot against her knee. She frowns, and looks up, furious.

Ash lifts his eyebrows, but I ignore it. I look questionably at Alexa, and she knows what I mean. My dad also notices something's up.

"What is it?" he asks me, but I'm not the one supposed to be answering. I nod my head towards Alexa, and my dad looks at her.

"OK, there's one more thing" Alexa gives in. "I met this guy in the forest. He was wearing clean and complete clothes, so I knew he wasn't from around. And he was wearing an eye patch. He told me he was looking for a boy my age, and the rest of the description was identical to Carl. I told him I didn't see anyone around here. He seemed to be very interested, and he was really creeping me out. He said his name was Harold."

"Did he ask anything else? About the prison, maybe?"

Alexa shakes her head. "No, just about Carl."

My dad runs with his hands through his hair. Ash looks confused and worried, almost scared.

"Rick, who is this man?" he asks. My dad looks at Hershel, who stands on the doorstep with the emergency kit.

"It's kind of a long story" my dad says. "To make it short; he's the guy who runs the town we thought you were part of. He kidnapped Maggie and Glenn once, and tried to kill us when we stroke back."

"Did he do anything else?" Ash asks to Alexa, who has her mouth full of porridge. She shakes her head lightly, not really caring for the serious tone of the conversation.

"Do you think he's behind all this?" Ash asks, and my dad shakes his head.

"I don't know. Could be, could be not. Maybe it's a coincidence, him being close to the shop after what happened there, or maybe it's somebody else."

Hershel sits down next to Alexa, and opens the medical kit. He grabs something that kinda looks like a thick needle, but with a vacuum at it.

"This might sting a bit" Hershel warns, but Alexa keeps calm. Hershel puts the weird thing on her shoulder, and basically sucks the tick out of her skin. Alexa lets out a little grunt, but then stands up.

"Now, if you would excuse me; I'm going to take a bath, or something similar to that, and have a really long nap."

"Sounds like a great plan" I say with a yawn. I notice the worries on my dad's face, and all the problems he has to deal with are suddenly written all over his face. The Governor, maybe another enemy, his son in danger, new people, protecting the prison….

I feel like I should help him, but I also know he won't let me. He always does things the way he prefers to. And nothing is getting in his way. Not even me.

Before I walk to my cell to get some clean clothes, I see Beth siting on the stairs with Judy in her arms. Beth greets me, happy to see me alive.

"She's missed you" she says, holding up Judith. I take my baby sister in my arms, and smile at her. She lets out a cry and touches my dirty cheek with her thick baby-hand.

"I've missed you too" I say, and give her a soft kiss on the forehead. Judith starts crying, and I give her back to Beth.

"It's good to have you back" she says. I grin.

"Good to be back."


	10. Chapter 9: Opinions

**It is Friday, people! And I got another chapter! Second in a row on the right day. I'm proud.**

**I'm still trying to survive the apocalypse of six months and a couple weeks, which will end when season 5 starts. I can't help but to keep repeating the last scene of the season finale. Just the last couple of seconds.**

**"They're gonna be pretty stupid when they find out."**

**"Find out what?"**

**"That they're screwing with the wrong people."**

**Brilliant!**

**So, back to the story!**

**(Disclaimer; I do not own The Walking Dead)**

**Leave a review if you like! And not if you hate the story. Nah, that's OK. (*cries inside*)**

**Enjoy! ;)**

_Chapter 9: Opinions_

I smile in myself as I hear Alexa yawn from her cell. I hear some thuds, and a couple seconds later, the sleeping beauty walks out of the cell. I grin at the sight of her sleepy hair and wide t-shirt hanging around her shoulders.

"Good morning, sunshine" I say. Alexa rubs in her eyes, and yawns again.

"What time is it?" she asks, before grunting annoyed. "Wait, forget that. No one has a watch anymore nowadays. Sorry."

"Still sleeping, huh?" I ruff through her already messy hair, and she looks annoyed at me. I walk towards a small table Glenn brought this morning, and hand Alexa some of the leftovers from breakfast.

"How long do you think I slept?" Alexa asks, while chewing on something that looks like dough.

"At least one whole night and half a day."

Alexa widens her eyes. "You're joking, right?"

"No, I'm being serious" I chuckle. "After one night without sleep and a full day of walking, it's not a real surprise, is it?"

"I've never slept this long in my entire life" she says dramatically, with a dramatized sigh at the end.

"Oh, you're so helpless" I say sarcastically, and Alexa sticks out her tongue. "Just eat your breakfast, lady. Perhaps you can still make something of this day. What's left of it."

"What are you going to do?"

I shrug. "I was thinking about staying here for the day. We don't have to go anywhere. Glenn and Daryl picked up the last of the supplies from the car last night."

"So we're good to go, right?"

I lift an eyebrow. The way she says it, doesn't make it sound like she really wants to leave. It's more like she wants to know. I smile. Must be Rick's kid. "Well, basically, yeah."

Alexa nods. "OK."

"But for today; just rest. You're gonna need it. Just, try to get to know some of these people. Get comfortable. There not so bad as you think." While she's listening, Alexa puts down the dough, but doesn't look up. "Carol, the short haired woman, is really sweet. And Beth, Hershel's daughter, is just a few years older than you. I hear she's into music, maybe you could jam sometime. Glenn's a cool guy too. But I've seen that you've been getting along just fine with Rick's son…?"

Alexa's cheeks get a red blush on them, and she rolls with her eyes. "What is that supposed to mean?"

I stand up, taking her plate from her. It's pretty much empty, except for the dough in her hand. "I think you know exactly what I mean."

"Shut up" she murmurs, putting the last dough in her mouth. She then stands up, mumbling something about changing clothes.

"Of course," I say, "you must look pretty for mister Carl Grimes."

"Seriously!" Alexa says irritated from her cell. "Stop it! It's not funny!"

I chuckle to myself as I clean the two plates and get rid of the little breakfast. I'm feeling really happy. This kinda of stuff always happened in the camp, before Leighton and Mark started doing the things that changed everything. Alexa and I were just teasing each other, making jokes. Sometimes Alexa would get really angry, and make a long walk to calm herself down. But she always came back, giving me a hug and apologizing for being such a hot head. I would ruff her hair, and she'd look irritated at me for ruining her haircut.

Those were the good days. I hope we can get to that point again, maybe here, in this prison. I don't know for how long we'll be staying here. It's not like I really had a plan. The first thing on my mind, was just getting Alexa as far away from those two bastards as possible, and think of the future later.

I remember my nephew, who was nine the last time I saw him. I took him to the biggest toy store in town, just to let him see some of the stuff kids played with those days. His mom, my mom's sister, had some money trouble, and I tried to help out as best as I could. My nephew wanted some new toy real bad, but I just couldn't afford it. When I told him, he started crying, he was so sad. At the other side of the street, there was an ice cream tent. I took him there, where they sold cones for 1 dollar. I made him choose four different flavours, and half an hour later, we were walking back to his mom's house, and he had all forgotten about the toy he wanted so bad.

As I walk towards my own cell to put on a clean shirt myself, I think of my little nephew. Kids used to be so easy. They were sad for a short time, and found something new to enjoy. Alexa's almost fourteen now. Forgetting won't be as easy as when you're eleven, but I can always hope. She won't forget what Rick has done to the two men whom she thought were her family, but perhaps she could try to forgive him. If she just starts seeing these people for who they are; people like us. Survivors.

I try to make something of my dark hair, not bothering to look in the mirror. My last girlfriend complained over my long hair. She'd get a hard attack if she could see it now. She'd run back to that other guy just as hard as she did before.

"Alexa!" I shout. "You done?"

"Almost!"

"Forget the lipstick" I tease. "C'mon, let's go."

Alexa sighs, as she comes walking out of the cell. "I have a bad hair day, OK? Give me some credit, man."

I purse my lip, patronising. She has put her brown hair in a ponytail. "You look cute. I bet Carl loves it."

"Shut up about him!" Alexa says again, flattening her t-shirt. She looks at her jeans, probably the cleanest one she could find. Still, it has some stains on it.

I roll my eyes, as I make my way to the other cellblock, the one where Rick and his group stay. Beth, Hershel and Maggie are the ones inside, and they look up.

"Good morning, or day" Hershel greets. The two girls smile sweet at us. I greet back, and I see Alexa just nods at them, with a shy smile. We join them at the metal table, Alexa sitting close to me, as if she's scared.

"How are the beds?" Maggie asks Alexa, who's surprised that she's paying attention to her.

"Better than a tree" Alexa shrugs, and Maggie smiles.

"Thanks" she quickly ads later. I'm surprised. Hot head Alexa is nowhere to be seen now.

"How's your shoulder?" Hershel asks, pointing at the spot where the tick had been yesterday. Alexa touches the skin with her finger, and squints her eyes.

"Still hurting a little…but I can live with it. And…uh…thanks, for patching me up."

Hershel smiles through his beard. "You're welcome."

Then, Judith, the baby, seems to want to make a statement too. She makes a baby-alike cry, kicking her feet and swinging her arms around. Beth smiles, rocking the baby in her arms.

"How old is she?" I ask. Suddenly, the faces of the family saddens. I swallow a lump down my throat. Did I say something wrong.

"About a month" Hershel says, with sad eyes. I suddenly remember Glenn telling me about Rick's wife. Shit, should be more careful. An awkward silence follows, with Alexa looking around confusingly.

"What's her name?" she tries to break it.

"Judy. I mean, Judith" Beth says, and then giggles. "Daryl calls her 'Lil' Asskicker'."

"Cool" Alexa says, trying to be stay nice. I know she feels very uncomfortable being with these people in here. And I dragged her to here, but really, she needs to get to know more people. She can't just stick with me all the time.

There will be a day where I won't be there to protect her any more.

I shake the thought away. Don't think like that.

"So, where are the others?" I ask, trying to change the subject. "It's quiet in here."

"They're trying to repair a weak spot at the fence" Maggie says, still eyes on Judy. She then looks at Alexa. "Carl's on the courtyard, if you wanna go talk to him."

Alexa nervously bites her lip, and I look the other way as I see her blush again. "Uh, yeah. OK. I'll guess I'll go…see him. Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me for everything" Maggie says, as Alexa stands up. I see Alexa makes fists of her hands, as if she's thinking different things than her face shows.

"OK, I'll try not to do that" she says in a weird voice, before walking away, almost rushing. Maggie watches her.

"Did I say something wrong?" she asks me. I wave it off.

"Don't worry about it. She's just a hot head, that's all. You should've seen her this morning."

At that moment, some door is opened, and someone steps inside. As I look up, I recognize the man as Daryl. He nods at me, and then turns to Maggie.

"You're up for watch" he says, and Maggie sighs. She gives her dad a kiss on the cheek, and pats Beth a quick hug. Judy gets a funny face, and I a polite nod.

"See you guys later" she says, while grabbing a machine gun. The sweet girl I was just talking to, suddenly turns into a rough survivor chick.

I see Hershel is thinking the same thing as he watches his daughter leave the cellblock.

"Are the watch duties for….that one guy?" Yeah, I kinda forgot his name. Hershel nods. Daryl grunts as he puts down his crossbow.

"That's right. Stupid man don't know anythin' 'bout takin'a break." The man grabs a handkerchief from the back pocket of his pants, and wipes the sweat of his face. He sits down on the ground, with his back against the wall, not bothering to come sit with us. Daryl eyes me. "You're lucky to not have met the guy yet. Especially with a pretty girl like yours."

I chuckle, and Daryl lifts an eyebrow.

"She's not mine" I explain. "Dude, I'm 23."

Daryl shrugs. "Ever heard of teen parents?"

I shake my head at the words. "Nah, it's not like that. I found her in a house, hiding in a closet. She was…starving. Sick. Scared to death." I feel the smile on my face fade away as I think back of that moment. It makes me sad. "There were two walkers on her. They almost burst through the wood. I had just got there in time."

Hershel nods with something on his face which I haven't seen in a while; respect. I feel overwhelmed by it. Personally, I respect Hershel a lot. He's doing the best he can with what he's good at, even though he has only one leg. He tries to do the best for his daughters, but also for the others.

"Did she have any family left?" the old man asks.

"She never talks about her family, or what happened to her" I answer truly. "Not even to me. Maybe she knew the two walkers attacking her, maybe she didn't. I know it wasn't her own house she was hiding in. When I helped her out there, she didn't want to go to another room to get stuff or anything. It took her some time before she started talking to me. And when she did, it just developed to what it is today."

Hershel nods understandable. I'm really starting to like this man. He doesn't say much, but when he does, the right words just roll out of his mouth. The words you really want to hear.

"And what about you?" Daryl suddenly asks. I turn to the redneck again. Really personal and all. I shrug as an answer.

"I didn't have any real bonds with anyone. My whole family isn't exactly…the ideal one. I just tried to make the best of it, and I still do."

Daryl nods, and looks at the gap in his pants, where the knee is supposed to be. I guess he's done asking questions.

Before someone can bring up another subject, the door to the courtyard opens, and Carl and Alexa come storming in. They both have serious expressions on their faces, like some real mature stuff is going to happen and they're going to be a part of it.

"Where's my dad?" Carl asks Daryl, who's standing up real quick, grabbing his crossbow.

"Fences. What's goin'on?"

Carl quickly walks past Daryl, who follows him. "It's not bad. I think. It's just…weird. It's Andrea."

The whole atmosphere in the room seems to gasp at the name. I look at Alexa, who is fully concentrated on Carl, with one hand at her belt. Normally, there would be a weapon hanging there, but now there isn't. She probably didn't think it would be necessary, but the hand being there is just something that became routine for the day. I try to catch her eyes. _Are you okay?_

_I'm fine _she replies. I keep looking at her with a worried look. What is going on?

Carl and Daryl walk to the back of the cellblock, Alexa quickly following them. I stand up too.

"Who's Andrea?" I ask, wishing I had brought a weapon too. Daryl holds his crossbow in front of him, finger on the trigger.

"An old friend. Sorta." We go into a dark hall, and Daryl keeps his crossbow in front of him, swinging it around every corner. "Merle? Where you at?!"

Seeing the importance of getting Rick, I don't bother to ask who the hell Merle is. I don't have to, because just a couple doors further, there's a man coming out. He sniffs his nose, stumbling on his feet and leaning against the wall.

"Whattup, lil' bro?" he says, with the almost same accent as Daryl. So, there are two of them, huh? Terrific.

"I thought you were with Rick" Daryl says to his brother, lowering his crossbow. Merle shrugs, not caring at all.

"Officer send me away. Guess he didn't need my wonderful presence." He quickly looks over our little club. "What's goin' on?"

"Blondie showed up" Daryl grunts, walking down the hall in a faster pace. Merle lifts an eyebrow at me, but doesn't say anything. By the looks, I don't think I'd like to get to know this man.

When the hall ends, there's a beacon of sunlight.

"Dad!" Carl asks seriously. A shadow comes to stand in front of the light, with the silhouette of the sheriff.

"What's wrong?" he immediately asks, walking towards his son.

"You gotta come quickly" Carl says, already running back. "Andrea somehow found a way here."

"Andrea?" Rick repeats. He starts running too. I still have no idea who this person must be.

When we're back at the cellblock, and everyone starts grabbing guns, I'm starting to think that this woman must be a terrorist or something.

Rick hands me a large shotgun, and I blink. I eye the man questionably. Rick shrugs. "We gotta need all the help we got."

I nod, and turn to Alexa. "You know what to do, right?"

Alexa nods, and for the first time in forever, she doesn't argue. Whatever happened out on the courtyard, it suddenly made her sane. I rub over her shoulder, before following the other man outside.

Merle is the first one to run out, and I see the blonde woman whom I think is Andrea nearing the gate. I frown at the weird sight. She has a walker walking in front of her, his neck in some sort of walking stick, which she's holding to lead him. The other walkers don't seem to care about here when they see one of their undead friends. Smart strategy.

Merle runs up to a metal table, a gun hold in front of him. He looks around. "Clear!"

Rick and Daryl follow to the second table, and I go the other way. I quickly scan the woods for any strange activity. This woman must be very dangerous.

"Are you alone?!" Rick shouts at the woman. Andrea is nearing the gate now, with her walker still in front of her.

"Rick?! Open the gate!" she shouts back, instead of answering.

"Are you alone?!" Rick repeats. The walkers around Andrea are starting to turn their heads. Her cover is blown.

Merle fires a shot, killing the walker instantly by a bullet through its skull. Andrea stumbles back, pulling at the gate desperately.

Rick runs towards it, Daryl and Merle following him. They each stand at one side of him, keeping attention on the roads leading to the prison.

I feel goofily as I run towards them too. Rick pulls Andrea on the courtyard, and I close the gate behind him, aiming my gun in that direction, so that it looks like I know what I'm doing.

Rick quickly pats Andrea's body, looking for anything weird, while Andrea is struggling.

"Rick! It's me! I'm your friend!" she tries, but Rick pushes her against the fence, removing her bag from her shoulder. He pushes her on her knees, looking through the bag. The woman holds her arms above her head, like she's a criminal.

When I look around the courtyard, I am surprised. On the catwalk above the ground, I see Glenn and Carol walking around with guns, and the dark skinned woman with a samurai sword appears from behind one of the tables. Maggie has a sniper spot somewhere high, looking through a smile binocular on the rifle. This is pretty damn serious.

When it's certain there is nobody else here, Rick pulls Andrea on her feet by her shoulder. As we walk into the prison, he mumbles something to her.

"Welcome back."

As we enter the cellblock, the first thing Andrea does, is hug Carol. They hold each other tight, like they're really old friends.

Alexa walks up to me with a slight smile on her face. She's glad I'm OK.

Andrea lets go of Carol, and gasps as she looks around the place. "Oh God...I can't believe this."

She looks over all the people, and has to look twice to make sure that we are the new ones. She turns to Rick. "Where's Shane?"

Rick just stares at her, saying nothing. Andrea's face gets a horrified expression. She looks around again, and seems to miss someone else. "Lori?"

Rick's eyes get a sad, watery glance, as he bows his head. Lori must be his wife.

"She had a girl" Hershel answers for Rick. "Lori didn't survive."

"Neither did T-dog" Maggie adds. Andrea's jaw drops, and she turns to Carl.

"Oh, Carl…"

The sheriff's kid has a cold, hard expression on his face, revealing nothing. I hear Alexa gasp softly, staring at the kid. I have to admit that this gives me a whole different view of these people. I had no idea how great their losses must be.

"Rick…" Andrea tries, while stepping towards the man. Rick avoids to look at her, with a whole different attitude than I saw of him before. He puts his hands on his belt, sniffing his nose, like he doesn't care. But we all feel the hurt, and that one move tells all of us that he does not want to talk about this right now.

Andrea turns towards me, and stares at both Alexa and me. "You must be new here."

She offers her hand, which I'm not sure to shake or not. I decide not to, and leave her hanging there. Andrea drops it, and looks hurt. I'm actually not sorry for her. The way the group treats her…it just doesn't feel like I should be nice to her all the sudden.

Andrea looks around the room. "So, you all live here?"

"Yeah" Glenn says, when nobody answers. "In the cellblock."

Andrea looks past Rick and points. "In there?"

Glenn nods, and Andrea takes a step towards the gate. "Can I go in?"

"I won't allow that" Rick says, blocking her way. Andrea sighs a little annoyed.

"I'm not the enemy, Rick!"

"Oh yeah? Well, we had that feel, on the courtyard, when you're boyfriend stormed in and brought down the fence with a truck and shot us up."

Alexa widens her eyes, and her jaw drops.

"Harold is your _boyfriend?!_" she says without thinking. Andrea turns around, confused. Alexa looks at her in horror. I lay a hand on her shoulder.

"Please, just…shut up, OK?" I whisper in her ear. Alexa opens her mouth, but then shuts it, biting her lip and folding her hands into fists. I see Carl making a face to her, telling her the same think I told her. Andrea turns back to Rick.

"He said you fired first" she says slowly. Rick shakes his head.

"Well, he's lying."

"He killed an inmate who survived in here" Hershel says, and Andrea puts a hand over her mouth. Alexa grabs my hand, and I look at her. She is totally confused. With this Andrea being here, we learn more about this group's history than we would like.

"We liked him" Daryl says, "he was one of us."

I see Carol bow her head in sorrow, and I just wished that this whole breakout never happened. That's probably what everybody wants. But at this moment, I'm really praying. To God. To Allah. To the Gods. To the universe. To the aliens. Whatever. Just, somebody, listen.

"I didn't know anything about that" Andrea defends herself, and I'm starting to not like her every minute she's in here. "I had no idea. I came as soon as I found out. I didn't even know you were in Woodbury until after the shootout."

"That was days ago" Glenn says through his teeth, and the skin around his black eye seems to get a little more red. I look at Alexa again, who's only looking at Carl, who's trying to avoid her eyes.

"I told you; I came here as soon as I could" Andrea says again, still defending. The dark skinned woman with the sword moves a little closer to Andrea, leaning against the wall. She has a cynic expression on her face. Andrea quickly turns around. "What have you told them?!"

"Nothing" the woman answers coldly. Andrea turns towards the group, really pissed off. I look at Hershel, and I see that even the old man has a cold expression on his face. The group who invited us into their home seems to have a much darker past than I could ever imagine.

"So now what?!" Andrea says. "I left Atlanta with you people, and now I'm the odd man out?!"

"He would have killed us" Glenn objects, and I think that with 'he', he means that guy. Harold or something. "And he would've killed us."

"With his finger on the trigger!" Andrea points at Merle, who's holding a large gun in his hands, and leaning against the railing of the stairs. He doesn't really seem to give a damn. I knew there was something off about him. "Isn't he the one who kidnapped you? Who beat you?!"

I look at the ground. Man, this is getting more ridiculously complicated by the second. When this woman is gone, I'll need to have a real damn chat with Rick. What the hell is going on?!

Andrea sighs, lowering her voice. "Look, I cannot explain any of what Philip has done, but I am here, trying to bring us together. We have to work this out."

"There's nothing to work out" Rick says, shaking his head furiously. Andrea opens her mouth to say something else, but someone clears her throat.

I then realize it's Alexa, who's suddenly stepping forward. "I'm sorry, it's Andrea, right?"

"Alexa, stay outta this" I warn her, but she ignores me. Andrea turns around.

"Hey, I don't wanna be mean, or anything" Alexa continues, and somehow, all the people in the room are listening to her. She sounds like she's talking to the meanest girl of high school, with a real bad attitude herself. "But c'mon, you gotta face it; that guy you're dating is a real mess. I met him, yesterday, in the forest, and he told me his name was Harold. Around here, he's called the Governor. And now you're saying his name is 'Philip'. To me, it sounds like you don't know this guy at all."

With that, she steps back. "Just saying."

I grab Alexa's arm. "You did not just do that. What is wrong with you?!"

Alexa shrugs. "I just felt like I needed to make a statement. I don't understand any of this, yet. But I think she could use an opinion like that."

I open my mouth to go against it, but then close it. Suddenly, I'm not mad anymore. It actually makes sense. An opinion from the outside…when did she became so smart?!

Andrea looks at her, not knowing what to say. She turns back to Rick. "Who are they?"

There's something weird on Rick's face. It seems like a smile and a angry face at the same time. I'd almost say that he's amused. I even see Daryl shake his head with a little humour, and Merle chuckles softly.


End file.
